Laser Fusion: Is it Hype? Professor Charles Seife (#283)

Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Brian Keating

Science, Physics, Natural Sciences

4.7 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 December 2022

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recently announced the achievement of fusion ignition at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) — a major scientific breakthrough decades in the making that will pave the way for advancements in national defense and the future of clean power. On Dec. 5, a team at LLNL’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) conducted the first controlled fusion experiment in history to reach this milestone, also known as scientific energy breakeven, meaning it produced more energy from fusion than the laser energy used to drive it. This first-of-its-kind feat will provide unprecedented capability to support NNSA’s Stockpile Stewardship Program and will provide invaluable insights into the prospects of clean fusion energy, which would be a game-changer for efforts to achieve President Biden’s goal of a net-zero carbon economy. “This is a landmark achievement for the researchers and staff at the National Ignition Facility who have dedicated their careers to seeing fusion ignition become a reality, and this milestone will undoubtedly spark even more discovery,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. https://lasers.llnl.gov/ Charles Seife, a professor of journalism at NYU's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, has been writing about physics and mathematics for two decades. He is a critic of the hype surrounding fusion. He is the author of nine books books, SUN IN A BOTTLE AND including Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea (2000), which won the 2000 PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction; Proofiness: The Dark Arts of Mathematical Deception (2010); and a forthcoming biography of physicist Stephen Hawking (2021). Before arriving at NYU, Seife was a writer for Science magazine and had been a U.S. correspondent for New Scientist. His writing has also appeared in The Economist, Scientific American, ProPublica, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Discover, Slate, Smithsonian, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and numerous other publications. He has also been a scientific consultant and writer for television documentaries about science and mathematics. Seife holds an A.B. in mathematics from Princeton University, an M.S. in mathematics from Yale University, and an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University https://www.charlesseife.org/ Connect with Professor Keating: 🏄‍♂️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/DrBrianKeating 🔔 Subscribe https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 📝 Join my mailing list; just click here http://briankeating.com/list ✍️ Detailed Blog posts here: https://briankeating.com/blog.php 🎙️ Listen on audio-only platforms: https://briankeating.com/podcast Subscribe to the Jordan Harbinger Show for amazing content from Apple’s best podcast of 2018! https://www.jordanharbinger.com/podcasts Can you do me a favor? Please leave a rating and review of my Podcast: 🎧 On Apple devices, click here, https://apple.co/39UaHlB scroll down to the ratings and leave a 5 star rating and review The INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE Podcast. 🎙️On Spotify it’s here: https://open.spotify.com/show/2G3PRMUhxGQkyQzLiiCqlf?si=8656119458df4555 🎧 On Audible it’s here : https://www.audible.com/pd/Into-the-Impossible-With-Brian-Keating-Podcast/B08K56PXJX?action_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp&shareTest=TestShar Other ways to rate here: https://briankeating.com/podcast Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/drbriankeating or become a Member on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmXH_moPhfkqCk6S3b9RWuw/join Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The announcement, I would say, in either the magnetic or inertial confinement fusion sectors to get more energy out than in and that comes with a big asterisk.
0:18.0	The big asterisk is that the way they define more out than in in this context is more energy of laser fusion out than
0:26.7	laser light in. Now the problem with that is lasers are inefficient and it takes a hundred times more energy to generate the
0:37.8	beams that comes out shining. So even if you have that break even, the laser side, there's still a huge drain of energy there on the
0:46.4	between the wall plug and the lasers that aren't accounted for it. A lot of
0:51.0	these experiments are not very well reproducible, but there's a huge sensitivity to initial conditions.
0:57.0	Part of the reason that this device was created in the first place is to experiment throughout parameter space and figure out so they can simulate implosions better, which is useful for weapons design and stockpile stewardship.
1:11.0	So what they're really doing is trying to figure out how to get things
1:14.2	what parameters are really sensitive, what parameters really aren't, where are
1:18.0	the simulations failing, where are they not. So they've got a lot of science to do
1:21.3	not in the energy domain as much as it is in kind of understanding this liminal space,
1:27.6	which is really kind of interesting, physically and interesting for weapons, just not for energy.
1:33.0	Welcome friends to this rip from the headline edition of Into the Impossible with your host Dr.
1:44.0	Brian Keating.
1:45.0	Hype or Hope. Will fusion save humanity with an inexhaustible supply of clean energy?
1:51.1	Can we harness the energy source of stars?
1:54.3	Lawrence Livermore Labs National Ignition Facility recently announced that
1:59.7	their controlled fusion experiment reached Energy Break Even.
2:03.4	What does that really mean?
2:05.3	Dr. Keating interviews NYU professor of journalism
2:08.0	and award-winning science writer Charles Seif
2:10.5	for the answers.
	...

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