US plans to build first fusion power plant

Fusion power plants promise to produce more energy than nuclear fission plants without creating radioactive waste.

Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in California, USA. Photo: David Butow

The U.S. government hopes to build a commercial nuclear power plant within 10 years as part of its transition to clean energy, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Sept. 25. Calling it a pioneering technology, Granholm said President Joe Biden wants to harness fusion as a carbon-free energy source that can power businesses and homes.

Fusion works by fusing hydrogen atoms to create helium, releasing enormous amounts of energy and heat in the process. Unlike some other nuclear reactions, fusion does not produce radioactive waste. Proponents of the technology hope it could replace fossil fuels and many traditional energy sources in the future. Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California first successfully conducted a fusion reaction last December after decades of work. They repeated the reaction in August, achieving an even higher energy surplus.

Nuclear energy is a key part of the US government’s goal of becoming carbon neutral in the energy sector by 2035 and in the economy by 2050. Currently, most spent fuel is stored in nuclear reactors across the US. Nuclear fuel can be recycled to create new fuel, but critics say this is not cost-effective and could lead to a proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Professor Dennis Whyte, director of the Center for Fusion and Plasma Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the US is taking a smart approach to fusion energy by promoting research and design in many companies to carry out pilot projects within a decade.

An Khang (According to Business Insider )

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