World's Most Powerful Laser on Target for Awesome Science: Scientists pulled together the pieces of the world’s most powerful laser last week and, in a first-ever complete dry run, pulled the trigger on a peppercorn-sized pellet of nuclear fuel. The energy crushed the capsule instantly, causing it to spew a shower of neutrons. In short: It worked.
About 10 trillion neutrons zoomed out of the capsule during the test shot, signaling the successful fusion of some tritium and deuterium atoms — the “heavy” hydrogen fuels in the pellet. Moses said 1,000 more neutrons should fly out during the ultimate goal of a fusion chain reaction.
Beyond NIF’s three-pronged mission, there’s also the promise of developing a safe fusion energy source that releases 30-40 times the energy put in. The only theorized “pollution” would be helium, which is the universe’s most pervasive and inert gas.