US researchers launch innovative experiment using powerful plasma jets: 'Represents a transformative step forward'

A new approach to nuclear fusion is in development, offering a cleaner approach to energy production that could be more affordable too.

U.S. researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory are looking for financial commercial partners for their new Plasma Liner Experiment (PLX), a program developing a new way to create nuclear fusion, according to Interesting Engineering.

Fusion energy is created when two atoms combine to form a heavier atom, which releases a massive amount of energy, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

What the PLX experiment wants to achieve is to fire dozens of high-speed plasma jets toward a central point where they will merge to form a collapsing shell, or liner, of plasma. The liner would then rapidly squeeze a magnetized target, creating the conditions for fusion to occur, similar to what powers the sun.

The benefits of this new method are that it doesn't require enormous superconducting magnets or building-sized lasers, making it simpler and more affordable, not to mention taking up less space.

"The Plasma Liner Experiment represents a transformative step forward for both fusion energy and national security applications," Feng Chu, the project's lead researcher, told the outlet. "By leveraging a modular, cost-effective platform that doesn't depend on massive lasers or superconducting magnets, we are opening the door to affordable, scalable solutions."

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Fusion is a virtually unlimited source of clean energy, so the support to study it further is greatly beneficial to humans and the environment. According to the IAEA, fusion could generate four times the energy per kilogram than fission (which involves splitting atoms) and nearly four million times more energy than oil or coal.

With that kind of power, it can help overcome expensive, resource- and labor-intensive methods of creating energy. It's also much cleaner than traditional "dirty" energy sources, meaning less pollution and planet-warming gases and cleaner air, soil, and water.

Fusion is often confused with fission, which creates more dangerous waste, while the primary byproduct of fusion is helium, which can be safely released into the environment, per the UK Atomic Energy Authority.

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