A Burgeoning U.S. Fusion Industry: What 2024 Could Bring

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

To say 2023 was a big year in the world of fusion research would be an understatement.

After achieving fusion ignition in late 2022, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California repeated the feat in late July, and then twice again in recent months, bringing to four the total number of times they've managed to generate more energy from a small pellet of fusion fuel than they put in.

In other words, we're finally on the path to fusion energy, sort of - replicable results and all.

With the Department of Energy (DoE) recently releasing $42 million in funds for fusion energy research divided between LLNL, Colorado State University, and the University of Rochester, the fusion forecast is calling for some breakthroughs.

Dr John Edwards, LLNL senior advisor and former director of the Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) program at Livermore, was happy to tell The Register what he sees on the horizon.

First things first, Edwards told us. He wants to make sure the world understands something about the fusion research at the NIF: It's never been about fusion energy.

"These results have energized people, but all of that work and funding hasn't been for fusion energy. It's been part of the National Nuclear Security Administration's Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan (SSMP)," Edwards explained.

[...] "The NIF results were phenomenal," Edwards acknowledged, but "there's a big tech gap between there and commercial fusion. [A pilot plant by the] 2030s is ambitious and there will be setbacks, but we need to be resilient because the results will be tremendous."

[...] The US government has been wrangling to pass a budget for months, and the latest temporary funding bill only kicks the can down the road to early 2024, but doesn't cover everything. Funding for things like the LLNL and NIF are part of what's been held up, Edwards told us.

[...] If Congress eventually manages to fund the government, the NIF, and "everything else falls into place," Edwards predicted that the NIF will reach new fusion ignition efficiency milestones in 2024.

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