November 29, 2010
A Star Is Born
American scientists are busy building the “world’s first sustainable fusion reactor” by creating a miniature star on Earth. Their project at the National Ignition Facility in Livermore, which costs 3.5 billion dollars, could mean a breakthrough in the development of safe renewable energy of the future. According to the plans, a workable fusion reaction should be realized by the 2012. On November 2, the scientists fired up the 192 lasers beams at the centre of the reactor and aimed them at a glass target containing tritium and deuterium gas. “The resulting release of energy was of a magnitude of 1.3 million mega joules, which was a world record and the peak radiation temperature measure at the core was approximately six million degrees Fahrenheit.”