US Reaches Fusion Milestone!

Science/Business | David Wu | January 9th, 2023.

The United States Department of Energy, a branch overseeing energy policy and nuclear development, announced a major scientific breakthrough in nuclear fusion. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory excitedly held a news conference on December 13th, just eight days after the first controlled nuclear fusion reaction in human history at the National Ignition Facility. This article explores the historical, technical, and foreboding aspects of this fusion-tech success.

The theoretical sciences behind nuclear fusion have been firmly understood since the dawn of atomic technology in the 1950s; however, turning an idea into practical usage has been arduous. Fusion, by definition, “squeezes” hydrogen isotopes to create substantial energy. This process is replicable in a disorderly manner in hydrogen nuclear bombs or a controlled manner in the core of our sun. For decades, scientists have struggled to control Fusion; however, the breakthrough at the national laboratories controlled fusion reactions and created more energy than the required ignition fuel. 

At the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 192 laser beams projected more than 2.05 megajoules of energy towards a tiny fuel pellet and subsequently initiated nuclear fusion -- the shell reached 100 million degrees celsius hotter than the surface of the sun. The scientists initially controlled the fusion process but failed to create more output energy than the input of 2.05 megajoules. After countless trials and examinations, the laboratory produced 3.10 megajoules of energy, generating a net of 1.05 megajoules in a controlled and repeatable process. After six decades of research, implementation, and experiments, humanity has scientifically achieved nuclear fusion.

This is remarkable because it shows that humanity could embrace a net carbon-free economy. In our current nuclear power plants, the fission process -- breaking atoms instead of fusing them -- creates harmful radioactive waste. This side effect prevented nuclear energy from evolving under the ferocious objections from activists and governmental fears. Fusion does not have atomic waste and creates more energy than fission. For comparison, the net one megajoule developed in the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory could power between 185,000 to 329,000 homes in one day. 

The scientific successes drew considerable attention from the media in the United States and around the globe. United States senators and President Joe Biden congratulated the Department of Energy on this achievement. Saturday Night Live, a popular comedy platform, produced a special to honor the breakthrough. The U.K. Science Minister George Freeman stated, “... this is a fantastic result that proves the exceptional potential of fusion power...” CNN, Fox, CNBC, BBC, and other major news outlets shared this news in their headlines. 

With such excitement, what’s next for nuclear energy? Although humanity scientifically grasped fusion, it will take several more decades to commercialize fusion. Many fascinating scientific products aren’t profitable or sustainable (two megajoules of input is extremely expensive for utility companies). The fusion power plants in the future may not use the Department of Energy’s laser-based fusion process; private investors have allocated $5 billion to industrial fusion research and development. Regardless of who makes fusion work, the increased government and commercial interest in nuclear energy provide infinite hope for a clean-energy future with rapidly developing fusion advancements.