US scientists announce 'major scientific breakthrough' on use of fusion energy

The achievement will pave the way for advancements in national defence and the future of clean power, officials said.

The NIF Target Bay in Livermore. The system uses 192 laser beams converging at the center of this giant sphere to make a tiny hydrogen fuel pellet implode. Picture: Damien Jemison/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory via AP

A “major scientific breakthrough” in the decades-long quest to harness fusion, the energy that powers the sun and stars, has been announced by US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm.

Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California for the first time produced more energy in a fusion reaction than was used to ignite it, something called net energy gain, the energy department said.