---
title: Why the nuclear fusion breakthrough matters
description: For the first time, scientists were able to cause a fusion reaction with a net energy gain.
---

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# [Why the nuclear fusion breakthrough matters](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/12142022-nuclear-fusion)

 Written by [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) | Dec 14, 2022 9:26:44 AM

Scientists at the [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory](https://www.llnl.gov/news/national-ignition-facility-achieves-fusion-ignition) (LLNL) in California made a pretty cool breakthrough in nuclear fusion this month.

Fusion is when atoms fuse together to form larger atoms, producing energy. If we could harness it, it’d be a clean energy source that doesn’t produce greenhouse gases or radioactive waste.

#### **Fusion is what powers the sun…**

… but in a man-made setting, causing that reaction takes more energy than it produces…

Until Dec. 5, at 1:03am, when LLNL scientists conducted a fusion experiment with a net energy gain, [per](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/13/science/nuclear-fusion-energy-breakthrough.html) *The New York Times*.

How? It’s a complicated process (which you can read about [here](https://lasers.llnl.gov/about/how-nif-works)), but essentially, they fired 192 lasers at a peppercorn-sized target filled with hydrogen atoms, replicating the heat and pressure of a star’s core.

#### **What’s next?**

The breakthrough is key in proving that it can be done, but scaling from a lab experiment to powering the nation’s toasters won’t happen overnight.

So far, private fusion companies have pulled together ~$5B, and the Department of Energy has called for a pilot plant and $50m in research grants, [per](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/13/fusion-breakthrough-doe-energy-00073631) *Politico*.

LLNL director Kimberly S. Budil said that, with “concerted effort and investment,” a power plant could be built after “a few decades of research.”

**Fun fact: **Bill Nye [pointed out](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI4rWcu9LIg) that nearly 80 years ago, on Dec. 2, 1942, Enrico Fermi and his University of Chicago colleagues created the first self-sustaining nuclear [chain reaction](https://news.uchicago.edu/story/how-first-chain-reaction-changed-science), leading to today’s power plants.

[View full post](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/12142022-nuclear-fusion)

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