According to reports, scientists have achieved a major victory in their effort to find a 'near-limitless, safe, and pure' source of energy by extracting more energy from nuclear fusion reactions than they put in. In nuclear fusion, light elements like hydrogen are fused together to create heavier elements, which results in a massive release of energy. 

The process, which creates the heat and light of the sun and other stars, has been praised for its enormous potential as a clean, renewable energy source. However, since the start of nuclear fusion research in the 1950s, scientists have been unable to show a positive energy gain, or ignition. 

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, which is responsible for the research, has not yet confirmed a Financial Times report that claims that after only using 2.1 MJ to heat the fuel with lasers, researchers were able to release 2.5 MJ of energy. 

The research's lead author, Dr. Robbie Scott of the Central Laser Facility (CLF) Plasma Physics Group at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), called the findings a 'momentous achievement.'

He said that fusion had the potential to offer a virtually unlimited, secure, and clean source of baseload energy. The first experimental demonstration of fusion 'energy-gain,' in which more fusion energy is produced than is supplied by the laser beams, may be found in this crucial finding from the National Ignition Facility. It is impossible to exaggerate the significance of this development in laser fusion research. 

Although the results would be a significant proof of concept, experts have emphasised that the technology is far far from being a mainstay of the energy landscape. To begin with, 0.4MJ is equivalent to 0.1kWh, or roughly the energy needed to boil a kettle.

'We'll need to improve the energy gain much further to transform fusion into a power source,' Chittenden added. Before we can actually convert this into a power plant, we also need to figure out how to duplicate the same result much more frequently and inexpensively.