Fusion is Still the Fuel of the Future Forever

A research scale fusion reactor

 Bay Journal, Virginia joins the nuclear fusion race as region shifts to clean energy

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced on Dec. 17 that Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) plans to build a commercial fusion power plant in Chesterfield County, VA. If the company succeeds, it could power about 150,000 homes by the early 2030s.

“It is probably the global race of our century, and for Virginia to be leading it is pretty cool,” Glenn Davis, director of the Virginia Department of Energy, said.

Nuclear plants have been generating electrical power around the world since the 1950s — though they’ve fallen out of favor in the wake of Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima, to name only the most infamous accidents. But, given the increasingly urgent push for clean energy sources, nuclear is getting a fresh look, if not a universally popular one, by the energy sector and regulatory agencies.

So far, the only practical atomic technology for power generation has been nuclear fission. The proposed Virginia plant will attempt to harness nuclear fusion — a long-sought but elusive alternative to fission.

Fission and fusion both produce massive amounts of energy from the nucleus of atoms. Fission happens when a neutron (a neutrally charged particle from an atom’s nucleus) slams into a larger nucleus and forces it to split. As the atom splits into two light nuclei, energy is released. Fusion does the opposite. It happens when two light nuclei slam together to form a single, heavier nucleus. The reaction has two byproducts: a spare neutron … and energy.

Fission is carbon-free, but it generates nuclear waste that remains radioactive for millions of years. Fusion reactions, on the other hand, produce waste that decays quickly without the need for long-term storage. This means the waste could decay over decades, a vast improvement over the long-lasting waste products associated with other forms of power generation. Another advantage of fusion is that it doesn’t rely on a chain reaction, as fission does, so it isn’t subject to potential meltdowns.

That is, if the company can deliver.

The problem that has long stymied scientists, until very recently, is that no fusion process had been able to generate more energy than what is needed to create the reaction in the first place. To do so, scientists must convert hydrogen into helium, much like the Sun does. But protons (positively charged particles in these atoms) want to repel each other. The Sun has immense pressure, heat and density, which overrides this phenomenon. After that, the strong nuclear force glues the new atom together while releasing energy.

Commercial fusion power has been touted as being 10 years away since I was old enough to be interested in science (5th grade, IIRC), so long that it's a standing joke. I hope they're right this time, but I'm skeptical.