What's Fuss over Fusion

Recent hazards, such as the long-lasting heat wave in Southwest China and the devastating blizzards on the East Coast of the United States, serve as reminders that the climate is changing. Pollution is a major contributor to the rise of extreme weather, grievously worsened by toxic byproducts in the process of generating energy. However, in order to meet the growing consumption, the process has to be carried out on even greater scale. So, perhaps the solution to the issue is not to find ways to minimize discharge from existing processes but to create new, efficient, and reliable clean energy sources.

Nuclear fusion is one possible solution that scientists have imagined and attempted since the mid-twentieth century, following the establishment of important microcosmic principles and laws. Nuclear fusion is based on the simple idea of combining two light atomic nuclei to form a single heavier one while releasing massive amounts of energy. However, experimental breakthroughs of controlled fusion did not occur until recently.

On the night of December 5, 2022, 192 of the world's most powerful lasers were concentrated and bombarded upon a BB-sized hollowed diamond sphere filled with condensed nitrogen, resulting in self-sustaining nuclear fusion lasting a few billionths of a second and producing approximately 3. 15 megajoules of energy, nearly 1.5 times the input. For the first time in human history, energy-producing nuclear fusion had been achieved. The feat took place at the NIF (National Ignition Facility), a US national laboratory primarily focused on nuclear weapons maintenance and high energy physics experiments. However, the road to success was difficult. The NIF was activated in 2009 and has been testing nuclear fusion ever since. When it was initially deployed, the facility hardly generated any fusion at all, an embarrassing disappointment after the whopping investments. In 2014, scientists at the NIF finally reported some success, but the energy produced was minuscule. Only recently, after some adjustments, did the NIF astound the public for the first time.

Nuclear fusion possesses all of the characteristics of a desirable energy source. If used, it could generate more power than any existing power plant and put a full stop to our surging energy demand pressure. It isn't tainted with long-term radiation because the process isn't based on chain reactions, so it will completely avoid tragic meltdowns like the one that occurred at Chernobyl thirty years ago, as well as the problem of nuclear waste storage. Most importantly, nuclear fusion is 100% clean.

The NIF's success is a huge step forward, but we're still a long way from actual power plants. 100 times of energy per shot is needed, says NIF manager Kim Budell, 10 shots has to be accomplished per second, not currently practiced a single shot per day. Regardless of how far the road ahead, much has been accomplished. “It's probably two or three decades. Scaling from where we are today to what you would require for a power-generating plant is a pretty significant challenge.” says Kim Budil, the director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.