US Department of Energy: Fusion Ignition Achieved
&gt; LLNL’s experiment surpassed the fusion threshold by delivering 2.05 megajoules (MJ) of energy to the target, resulting in 3.15 MJ of fusion energy output, demonstrating for the first time a most fundamental science basis for inertial fusion energy (IFE)<p>Yesterday, everyone was complaining about the 2.2:2.0 ratio, but now we&#x27;re working with 3.15:2.05.<p>With modern lasers, that&#x27;d be a total Q of 0.375 assuming 100% efficiency through direct-energy-capture.<p>The jumps to get here included<p>- 40% with the new targets<p>- 60% with magnetic confinement<p>- 35% with crycooling of the target<p>The recent NIF experiments have jumped up in power. The first shot that started this new chain of research was about 1.7 MJ of energy delivered. Now, 2.15 MJ. However, the output has jumped non-linearly, demonstrating the scaling laws at work.<p>&gt;  I’ve helped to secure the highest ever authorization of over $624 million this year in the National Defense Authorization Act for the ICF program to build on this amazing breakthrough.”<p>It&#x27;s nice to see this milestone recognized, even if the funding it still rather small.