U.S. government scientists have recently managed to make significant progress toward successfully utilizing fusion energy, according to The Financial Times.

Scientists at the federal Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California managed to create net energy gain via a fusion reaction in the past two weeks, the FT reported Sunday, citing three people with knowledge of the experiment. Researchers have been attempting to produce more energy than they burn during fusion reactions, which power the sun, for 70 years; however, no reaction has produced more energy than it burns until now.

“Initial diagnostic data suggests another successful experiment at the National Ignition Facility,” the facility told the FT. “However, the exact yield is still being determined and we can’t confirm that it is over the threshold at this time.”

Scientists used the world’s most powerful laser to blast a pellet of hydrogen plasma, starting a process called inertial confinement fusion and producing more energy than was consumed, according to the FT. The reaction produced roughly 2.5 megajoules of energy, which was about 1.2 times more than the 2.1 megajoules of energy created by the laser.

source dailycaller.com