Ongoing global investment could make fusion's limitless, clean energy a reality, transforming power generation and climate action.
Nuclear fusion has long been hailed as the holy grail of clean energy in a world grappling with climate change and energy security concerns. Recent breakthroughs and ambitious projects worldwide are tantalizingly bringing this once-distant dream closer to reality.
This announcement is the latest advancements that have reinvigorated the fusion energy field. In December 2022, the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the US achieved a historic breakthrough by surpassing the ignition threshold. They produced 3.15 megajoules of energy output from a 2.05 megajoules input, later improving this to 3.88 megajoules – the highest recorded output.
Perhaps the most ambitious project in the field is the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor , a collaborative effort involving 35 nations. Under construction in southern France, ITER aims to be the largest of over 100 fusion reactors built in the past seven decades. Despite delays pushing its first plasma target to 2035, ITER’s goals remain lofty: to produce 500 MW of heat from a 50 MW input for up to 600 seconds.
Energy efficiency remains a hurdle. Maintaining the extreme temperatures necessary for fusion and cooling the equipment consumes significant power. The recent decommissioning of the JET reactor in the UK, estimated to cost $300 million and produce 3,000 cubic meters of radioactive waste, highlights the complexities of managing these facilities.
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