WHAT: Nuclear Fusion Power Pellet



WHY: These days fuel costs aren’t a logistics afterthought: they’re one of the first items of consideration in any successful supply chain strategy. But what if energy were…free? Top scientists at the San Francisco-area Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are now constructing “power pellets” smaller than the size of a pencil eraser they believe will generate the heat of a star on earth-no pollution necessary. Ready to refuel?

 

HOW: Three words: controlled nuclear fusion. For decades, laboratory scientists have tried and failed to fuse the nuclei of deuterium and tritium, both hydrogen isotopes. Success would produce helium-and the explosive energy of a hydrogen bomb. Lawrence Livermore’s National Ignition Facility has built a first-of-its-kind 287,000-pound target chamber to accomplish the heretofore impossible. Inside is the tiny pellet, seeded with a milligram or so each of deuterium and tritium; outside are 192 lasers, ready to blast in an ultra-focused beam. If ignition works, the excess energy produced could repower the planet. Backing the experiment is $3.5 billion from the U.S. government.



CAVEATS: Laser focus and power are unproven, and controlled nuclear fusion has never worked as a significant energy source to date.



QUOTE: National Ignition Facility Director Ed Moses: “This is the real solar power.”



MORE INFORMATION: National Ignition Facility (https://lasers.llnl.gov/)