A Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough: What This Means for Science and Climate

The US Department of Energy announced the breakthrough in nuclear fusion. Photo: AP Newsroom / J. Scott Applewhite

This Tuesday, scientists in California announced a significant breakthrough in producing nuclear fusion energy, creating the first reaction of its kind to produce more energy than was used to start the reaction. 

Fusion energy, still likely decades away from commercial use, is viewed as an excellent opportunity to create truly clean renewable energy.

Nuclear fusion energy is generated through a laser by merging smaller atoms into heavier ones. It is considered much safer than nuclear fission, generating much less radioactive waste that also decays in a short time span. Nuclear fusion is also where the sun derives its energy, heating about 99% of its core. 

Energy generated through nuclear fusion has the potential to meet the world’s growing energy demands, potentially providing power for billions of people. It would also greatly aid in the United States’ commitments to carbon neutrality in the coming years, including Present Biden’s goal to achieve a carbon-neutral economy. 

Nuclear fusion, having been pursued by scientists since the 1950s, has the potential to generate energy without emitting carbon or creating nuclear waste, powering homes and businesses en masse.

NASA moon rocket. Photo: AP Newsroom / John Raoux

Along with its renewable energy potential, scientists are also optimistic about what nuclear fusion energy will mean for space exploration. 

There has long been hope that rockets will be able to be powered by fusion propulsion, and this breakthrough makes this possibility one step closer. Fusion propulsion would allow for space exploration beyond our solar system, making this the most important technological innovation currently happening in space exploration. 

One of the major barriers still facing commercial nuclear fusion energy generation is the lack of infrastructure available to generate energy for mass commercial usage. Even devices that are believed to have the potential to generate nuclear fusion energy on a greater scale are made up of materials known to be extremely difficult to produce. 

The economics of mass-produced nuclear fusion energy is also a significant barrier, given the high costs and necessary space needed to produce energy on a commercial scale. Tritium, a crucial material in generating nuclear fusion reactions, has a dwindling supply, placing it at $30,000 a gram. Generating this energy on even a small scale requires huge investments, making mass production a significantly more costly feat. 

Despite this recent breakthrough, many are also concerned that by the time nuclear fusion is a viable form of renewable energy, the impacts of the climate crisis will already be too great. As we are already facing the effects of climate change across the globe, a renewable solution not ready for commercial use for at least another decade does little to mitigate climate change in what may be the most crucial forthcoming decade.