Oh well, the NIF would still be miles away from powering itself - only a small fraction of the electrical energy fed into it reaches the fuel capsule. And each fuel capsule is just a tiny bit of hydrogen in a metal tube - that currently requires hours to be replaced.
I don't understand it, but good luck to them. If nothing else its good research, I hope.
UK one has a better name Diamond Light Source, don't get brighter than that!
I don't understand it, but good luck to them. If nothing else its good research, I hope.
UK one has a better name Diamond Light Source, don't get brighter than that!
The NIF is mostly about nuclear bomb research, thus producing more energy than needed for ignition is an important measure of experiment quality, but the whole system is not really meant to operate as a powerplant.
This is an experimental rig, I think the point of the article was more that progress has been made understanding the ignition process.
Harnessing a fusion reaction is an extremely complex thing, the Graal of physics and engineering. It will take more than one team to figure it out. I'd say it is the good thing that different teams focus on different aspects of it (ignition, containement...).