A scientific breakthrough in nuclear fusion? How to watch the announcement tomorrow
The high-powered Nova Laser before it creates nuclear fusion inside its target chamber at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1986. | Photo by Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
A “scientific breakthrough” in the development of fusion energy is expected tomorrow from the Biden administration. Formore than half a century,people have poured billions of dollars into nuclear fusion research, hoping to create a source of abundant, clean energy.
The rough idea is this: if we develop technology that can replicatethe way the sun generates energy in a controlled way, we could power the world with energy that’s free of greenhouse gas emissions and long-lived radioactive waste. But scientists have been unable to trigger a fusion reaction that results in a net energy gain. Turns out, it takes a lot of heat energy to force atomic nuclei to “fuse” together.
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