So the thing you’ve heard about wasn’t the first “ignition” (almost certainly the wrong word, it’s not a flame) it was just the first fusion reaction that output more energy than was directly input. This is confusing to readers because there was actually a ton more energy required, but the lasers that directly impacted the material had less energy than was released, but total energy needed was much higher than was created. Also, that test was, as far as I’m aware, more suitable for a weapon style design, not a reactors that can sustain itself and create electricity. It was basically a capsule shot by a bunch of lasers, not in a reactor.
Not that I know of. You can obviously just neglect most energy costs when considering “ignition” and the proclaim you’ve achieved ignition. These may legitimately be significant advances but it doesn’t mean we’re ready to start thinking about actually sustaining fusion energy at scale.
Haven’t we already confirmed ignition and just entered the “how do we sustain this at scale?” phase of the development?
So the thing you’ve heard about wasn’t the first “ignition” (almost certainly the wrong word, it’s not a flame) it was just the first fusion reaction that output more energy than was directly input. This is confusing to readers because there was actually a ton more energy required, but the lasers that directly impacted the material had less energy than was released, but total energy needed was much higher than was created. Also, that test was, as far as I’m aware, more suitable for a weapon style design, not a reactors that can sustain itself and create electricity. It was basically a capsule shot by a bunch of lasers, not in a reactor.
Not that I know of. You can obviously just neglect most energy costs when considering “ignition” and the proclaim you’ve achieved ignition. These may legitimately be significant advances but it doesn’t mean we’re ready to start thinking about actually sustaining fusion energy at scale.