U.S. announces nuclear fusion energy breakthrough

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Tuesday a monumental milestone in nuclear fusion research: a "net energy gain" was achieved for the first time in history by scientists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

"Simply put, this is one of the most impressive scientific feats of the 21st century," Jennifer Granholm, U.S. energy secretary, said at a press conference, adding that researchers have been working on this for decades.

"It strengthens our national security, and ignition allows us to replicate certain conditions only found in the stars and in the sun," she said. "This milestone moves us one significant step closer to the possibility of zero carbon abundance fusion energy powering our society."