November 29, 2023

Lily Sharkey

11th Grade

Dominican Academy

December 5, 2022, was the first time in history that nuclear fusion reached ignition- that is, nuclear fusion produced more energy than was put into it. On July 30, 2022, California scientists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) reached ignition for the second time. If it can be successfully and continuously repeated, nuclear fusion can be the next clean and cheap energy source. However, nuclear fusion is still in its preliminary phase, and much more experimentation is required before it can become the next green power source. Thus, it is unclear if nuclear fusion will have an impact on current climate issues by the time it will be available commercially. 

Most nuclear power plants in the country utilize nuclear fission, which splits the nucleus of the atom. While fission creates great amounts of energy with little greenhouse effect, it does produce dangerous radiation waste byproducts that exist for a very long time. In contrast, fusion occurs when two nuclei combine, releasing energy; it produces less dangerous byproducts that decay faster. However, it requires great amounts of energy to combine nuclei, and the energy produced is usually less than the energy put in. The recent struggle with fusion was for it to reach ignition (scientific energy breakeven), or produce more energy than was put in.

LLNL has for a long time been a pioneering center for nuclear fusion research. As early as the 1960s, scientists at LLNL proposed that nuclear fusion could be achieved in a laboratory- setting using lasers. Physicist and LLNL director from 1988-1994 John Nuckolls was a prominent figure in this early journey and kickstarted 60 years of research and development that would eventually lead to successful nuclear fusion at the lab today. Along this journey, scientists also created NIF, the world’s biggest and most powerful laser.

Although nuclear fusion idealistically can alter climate change and greenhouse emissions, many steps must be taken before that can be achieved. Nuclear fusion must be sustained for substantial periods of time to create enough energy. There is also the topic of how to deliver energy to homes- America’s power grid is too outdated for a single station to power the country, so smaller plants must be built. Only if significant breakthroughs are made, then it may it be possible to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.