What on Earth is Nuclear Fusion?

(TrueTrendNews.com) – Five Senators across both parties have introduced legislation to speed up the process of developing “commercial fusion energy,” according to a press release from the office of Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California.

He is joined in his bipartisan effort by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Todd Young (R-IN), and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA). The Fusion Energy Act, introduced on April 18, would codify the authority of the Nuclear Regulatory Commision (NRC) to oversee the development and federal guidelines related to facilities that produce commercial fusion energy.

As noted in the release, the enhancement of fusion energy could “produce abundant clean electricity” but not include the “harmful” adverse reactions such as radioactive waste and carbon emissions. According to the senators, the commercialization of this field could be “a key component” in America’s goal to “fully decarbonize the grid by 2050.”

Leading up to the bill, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California achieved fusion ignition for the first time, allowing greater energy output than the amount needed for a reaction. A year and a half later, in April 2023, NRC decided to create a separate “regulatory framework” to guide the development of fusion energy.
According to the release, the Fusion Energy Act would provide guidelines and support to further the progress made in the field as well as require the NRC to report necessary updates to Congress within one year of having established licensed machinery.

The fusion process—which seeks to imitate the energy fueling of the sun by fusing together light atoms—is one that has become popular in the ongoing effort of world leaders to eliminate gas emissions and radioactive waste. Compare this to nuclear fission, which splits atoms apart. Fission is a technology humans have already achieved, but the enormous potential energy from achieving fusion is what is driving research efforts.

In addition to the recent bill from the United States, other nations such as the United Kingdom, Japan, and China have also considered the possibility of eliminating these negative outcomes by investing in the development of fusion energy.