The US Fusion Ignition Breakthrough EXPLAINED

The first successful Fusion Ignition experiment in history was achieved at the Lawrence Livermore National Ignition Facility (NIF) on December 5th 2022. This success is decades in the making, but does it mean fusion is just over the horizon?

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0:00 The First Successful Ignition Experiment
0:50 What is nuclear fusion vs fission? (And why is it so hard?)
4:05 How Does the National Ignition Facility (NIF) Work?
7:11 What problems does fusion still have to overcome?
12:01 When will fusion be commercially viable?

#nuclear #fusion #breakthrough

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[DrBenMiles]

I'm going to put down a line in the sand - I think the first early commercial fusion reactors will be coming on line in 2035. What's your vote?

[Srindal]

The point is now we have proven net gain is possible, now we have a reason to improve on the designs to get even more out of it, leading to the actual goal of commercialisation

[steffanofumo]

This is step 1 of maybe a million or more steps before anything viable commercially can be actually produced, but step 1 is always the most important, it proves it’s possible and not just a money pit, and that’s very important for progress.

[DigSamurai]

I'm a lay person and I know a good deal about fusion just from watching YouTube videos but you taught me things I didn't understand. You are incredibly good at explaining complex processes in simple terms.

Einstein said if you can't explain it simply you don't know the subject well enough. Clearly you are a man of great intellect and sagacity and you understand fusion extremely well.

[leoli]

I'd like to express my appreciation for how well this video was made. Was an absolute pleasure to view and very exciting material to learn.

[fritzelly]

One of the few realistic viewpoints of what was announced with a good explanation that anyone can understand

[jonahansen]

This one of the few videos on fusion that is honest and accurately reports what is really needed for fusion power to be practical. Most of the others are just PR parroting of what the laboratories press release state; mostly deceptive because they do not report the overall Q (energy out/energy in), but just the plasma Q. Bravo!

[eduardotroncoso]

Great explanation, many thanks. 30 years ago I asked a nuclear engineer how long will take to have stable nuclear fusion energy. His answer was: "It will take some ten years, but it has been the same for the last fifty years". He was a prophet!!

[plumbus]

Your explanations are incredible, I didnt retain much of what was said in this video but its awesome to see how far our species has gone

[pype]

Thx for the video! I just discovered this channel and subscribed. What helped me the most is understanding the energy gain differential. I had heard both 150% and 1% which was confusing to me. This does put it into perspective that there's a lot of work to be done before this is commercially viable.

[OwenWithAHammer]

Awesome video, really well paced and edited.

Sounds like they use superconductors in just about all the cool stuff, I hope we get some decent, affordable high temperature superconductors soon!

[baoboumusic]

It took me about 10 videos to finally find the one that asked and answered the right questions. Thank you!

[markmuller]

What can I say, good job USA, hi from Europe!
Edit: Turns out the experiment was overhyped but still a nice first nevertheless

[davidschmidt]

Dr. Miles, recently retired Science teacher here. I enjoyed your vid. Your delivery style is very 'listenable' and the vid is well-produced. I'll be looking for more. ☮

[antiquehealbot]

I'm not sure when commercial fusion will be a thing as I'm just an average Joe. But I strongly hope it to be before 2050. It will be a greatest breakthrough toward carbon neutral, or even negative carbon society.

[apidas]

this is the best explanation out there about the breakthrough
been heard about this for weeks

[cameronlapworth]

Thank you for this very clear explanation. I teach science and I often find questions about this difficult to explain. Other than technology is often difficult to develop commercially new battery chemistries are another case in point. What might work in a lab or be a theoretical energy density may not be possible soon due to additional engineering issues

This video also helps explain the stellar work these scientists are doing. Even if fusion is never viable the advances in technology to achieve this will have longer lasting impacts than we can imagine.

Thank you. Please keep doing this work. If I believed in God I'd say toy were doing gods work here.

[Juan-wjvk]

I work for DOE. This is the best video yet I have seen. Enjoyed it very much thanks.

[MrStreaty]

I think this event is more significant than most understand. Now that we’ve actually done it, we know exactly what temperature and pressure we need to sustain in all reactors for them to ignite

[tpaselk]

Great work making this accessible to those who are interested!