• yanyuan@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Yes, the US has fusion weapons since the 50s, but Los Alamos still does research on improvements, maintenance, reliance…

    The US Department of State on the matter:

    Our laser pulls over 300 megajoules off the grid to do these experiments and then converts that into 2 megajoules of laser light and that gave us 3 megajoules of fusion energy.

    And here’s a DOE press release from 2022:

    This historic, first-of-its kind achievement will provide unprecedented capability to support NNSA’s Stockpile Stewardship Program and will provide invaluable insights into the prospects of clean fusion energy…

    That’s why I’m also proud to announce today that 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.