US-made Solar Experiment Successfully Achieves 10 Quadrillion Watt Energy Explosion

NASA photo illustration via Unsplash

JAKARTA - Researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Northern California have set a world record in a new fusion experiment. This nuclear fusion experiment or the so-called artificial sun produced a burst of energy of more than 10 quadrillion watts or more than 10,000 trillion watts.

In the experiment, as proclaimed by Live Science, Monday, August 23, scientists used unconventional methods to create nuclear fusion. They shoot an intense beam of light from the world's largest laser at tiny pellets of hydrogen.

The researchers focused 192 giant lasers at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) onto tiny pea-sized pellets. They can produce an energy release of 1.3 megajoules in 100 trillion seconds or if described as 10 percent of the energy of sunlight hitting Earth.

In addition, the researchers hope to someday break even or pellet ignition, where it expends 100 percent or more of the energy it absorbs. Not only that, with this achievement can expand the ability to research nuclear fusion weapons, namely the core mission of the NIF. And it could lead to new ways of using nuclear fusion energy.

Some scientists hope that one day nuclear fusion could also become a relatively safe and sustainable method of generating energy on Earth. Keep in mind, nuclear fusion is a process that also provides the power for the Sun and other stars to shine.

"This result is a historic step forward for inertial confinement fusion research, opening up a fundamentally new regime for the exploration and advancement of our critical national security mission," said Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory director Kim Budil.

Plasma physicist from the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University and not involved in the latest research, Siegfried Glenzer said this nuclear fusion energy could stand out in efforts to replace fossil fuels, in recent years dominated by solar energy.

According to Glenzer stating it is very promising to achieve energy sources that do not produce Co2, "It is very promising for us to achieve energy sources on this planet that will not emit Co2," said Glenzer.