It’s historic: the USA has just achieved nuclear fusion for the first time. Scientists have been trying to achieve a net energy gain for almost a century. But what is it really? To help you understand, we’ve asked AI ChatGPT to explain it for us… welcome to 2022!
On December 13, 2022, the United States government announced a major scientific discovery. At a press conference in Washington DC, the White House reveals that scientists “ fired lasers at a fuel pellet, and more energy was released by this fusion ignition than was released by the incoming lasers. “.
In other words, the researchers Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have created a fusion reaction resulting on a net energy gain. This is a world first, and one that the culmination of almost a century of research…
In nature, this fusion between atoms occurs only on the sun and other stars. Scientists have had to heat atoms to several million degrees to reproduce the phenomenon on Earth.
On December 5, 2022, the researchers used 192 laser beams to strike a peppercorn-sized diamond containing hydrogen isotopes. The experiment produced 3.15 megajoules of energy, some 50% more than the 2.05 megajoules used by lasers.
This breakthrough could be the first step towards unlimited generation of clean energyresulting from nuclear fusion. An abundant source of energy, without negative effects such as greenhouse gas emissions or radioactive waste.
This is a major success, even if we still need to many years to come to consider the commercial use of nuclear fusion. This is one of the major technical breakthroughs of 2022.
However, except for scientists, it’s not easy to grasp the significance of this scientific breakthrough. So, to better explain it to our readers, we have chosen to exploit the OTHER revolutionary technology of 2022 artificial intelligence ChatGPT.
This chatbot created by OpenAI is based on the colossal GPT-3 language model, and is able to answer any question based on its huge database.
For all about ChatGPTIf you’d like to know more about ChatGPT, you can read our full report at this address. For the time being, see for yourself the power of this tool by reading his answers to our questions on nuclear fusion.
All the text you will read below is entirely generated by the AIand translated with Google Translate. L’front page image of this article is produced by the AI MidJourney from the prompt ” robot explaining nuclear fusion “…
What is nuclear fusion?
Nuclear fusion is a process in which atomic nuclei come together to form a single nucleus. form a heavier nucleusreleasing an enormous amount of energy in the process.
This is the same process powers the sun and other starsand holds great promise as a clean and virtually unlimited source of energy here on Earth.
In a fusion reaction, two light atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus and a subatomic particle, such as a proton or neutron. This process releases an enormous amount of energywhich can be harnessed to generate electricity.
Although fusion reactions can be extremely powerful, they are also very difficult to control and major challenges remain in the development of practical fusion power plants.
What is nuclear fusion ignition?
Nuclear fusion ignition is the point at which a fusion reaction becomes self-sustaining. In other words, this is the point at which the energy released by the fusion reaction is sufficient to sustain the reaction without any additional energy input.
This is a milestone in the development of fusion energy, as it represents the point at which a fusion reactor would be capable of generating useful quantities of energy. Achieving ignition is a major challenge, as it requires the creation of a plasma of a certain density and temperature, and the maintenance of these conditions for an extended period of time.
Why is nuclear fusion revolutionary?
Nuclear fusion is considered revolutionary because it has the potential to provide an almost unlimited source of clean energy. Unlike nuclear fission, which is the process currently used in most nuclear power plants, fusion produces no radioactive waste, making it a much safer and more sustainable option for generating electricity.
What’s more, fusion reactions release an enormous amount of energy, far more than can be obtained from fission reactions. This makes fusion a potentially revolutionary technology that could help to solve many energy problems worldwide.
How long have scientists been trying to achieve nuclear fusion?
Scientists have been trying to achieve nuclear fusion for many decades. The first fusion reaction was produced in the laboratory in 1932but it wasn’t until the 1950s that researchers began to seriously explore the potential of fusion as an energy source.
In the decades since, many important achievements have been made in fusion research, but the challenges of developing a practical fusion power plant remain significant. Despite this, many scientists and engineers continue working on fusion technology, and there is optimism about the possibility of an imminent breakthrough.
What are the challenges of nuclear fusion?
There are many challenges associated with the development of practical fusion power plants. Some of the most important challenges include:
High temperatures For fusion to occur, atomic nuclei must be heated to extremely high temperatures, around 100 million degrees Celsius. This is much hotter than the sun’s core, and reaching and maintaining such temperatures in a laboratory environment is a major challenge.
Containment At these high temperatures, the fusion reaction produces a plasma, which is a gaseous state of matter composed of charged particles. This plasma is extremely hot and can be difficult to contain, as it will rapidly escape if not properly contained.
Fuel Fusion reactions require a specific type of fuel, usually a mixture of hydrogen isotopes such as tritium and deuterium. The tritium is difficult and expensive to produce, and has a short half-life, which means it decays rapidly. This makes it a difficult fuel to use.
Control For a fusion reaction to be useful, it must be controllable. This means that the reaction must be able to be started, stopped and regulated as required. However, fusion reactions are complex and can be difficult to control, making them a major challenge.
These are only only some of the challenges associated with the development of practical fusion power plants. Despite these challenges, many scientists and engineers continue to work on fusion technology, and there is optimism that a breakthrough is imminent.
What are the potential use cases for nuclear fusion?
If successful, nuclear fusion could have many potential uses, including electricity generation. Fusion reactions release an enormous amount of energy, far more than can be obtained from fission reactions, which are currently used in most nuclear power plants.
This makes fusion a potentially attractive option for generating large quantities of clean, carbon-free electricity. In addition to electricity generation, fusion could also be used to power spacecraft and other vehicles, as well as for the production of medical isotopes and other applications. The potential uses of fusion are vast, and many scientists and engineers are working to unlock its potential.
Has the USA really achieved nuclear fusion?
I’m sorry, but I’m not able to navigate the Internet, so I can’t provide an accurate answer to your question. As a large language model trained by OpenAI, my knowledge is based on the text I was trained on and I don’t have the ability to navigate the Web nor access real-time information.