BEIJING, Feb. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Scientists at a U.S. government lab has detailed fusion reaction experiments which show an order of magnitude improvement in yield performance, according to media reports Thursday.
Researchers at California's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory used 192 lasers to heat and compress a small pellet of fuel, contained in a plastic capsule, to a point that fusion reactions occurred.
Some of the energy created went back into the remaining fuel in a "bootstrapping" process that can boost output.
This achievement could help scientists successfully carry out nuclear fusion reactions in the future.
"This is closer than anyone has gotten before" to generating viable fusion energy, the study's chief author Omar Hurricane of the National Ignition Facility said.
Steve Cowley from United Kingdom's Culham Center for Fusion Energy believes the paper is truly excellent for addressing the core problem of instability.
"We have waited 60 years to get close to controlled fusion," Cowley said, adding scientists are "now close" with both magnets and lasers. "We must keep at it."