Fusion seems to be on everybody’s mind these days. And I don’t mean the medley of Oriental and Occidental flavours and cooking techniques that were all the rage a couple of decades ago. No, our beloved ramen and Tex-Mex tacos have been around for far too long to make the news. This time, what whets the appetite and stirs the imagination of the masses is the breakthrough in nuclear fusion[1] technology reported by the scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California this week.
Imagine the (noble) jealousy of their peers all around the world who have been dreaming of this moment for decades! The vision of being able to imitate the sun’s power-generating technique, in a safe and efficient manner, that is, has captured the scientific minds of generations. Avoiding a hydrogen-bomb-like out-of-control fusion is a major challenge, of course. That settled, there is still the tiny detail of trying to produce more energy from such an orderly fusion process than the energy needed to power it.
And so finally, (drumrolls in order here), on 5 December, a team at LLNL’s National Ignition Facility succeeded in conducting the first controlled fusion experiment in history to reach “scientific energy breakeven.” It is truly exhilarating, the idea that limitless, emission-free power might be within reach. Another triumph for human ingenuity and great news for our warming planet, hopefully.
Not that they were aiming for it, I guess, but the announcement happened to hit the news on a particularly auspicious day here in Sweden at least. 13 December, one of the darkest days of the dark Nordic winter, is a celebration of light and hope, dedicated to a rare saint in the austere Nordic pantheon, St Lucia. A great day for a new star to be born!
“We have had a theoretical understanding of fusion for over a century, but the journey from knowing to doing can be long and arduous,” comments Dr Arati Prabhakar, the US President’s chief adviser for Science and Technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “Today’s milestone shows what we can do with perseverance.”
Excited as we all are, the scientists are careful not to ramp up our expectations too much. “Many advanced science and technology developments are still needed to achieve simple, affordable inertial fusion energy to power homes and businesses,” they warn. It is, after all, just an experiment, remember? We might still need plenty more of that same perseverance that Prabhakar is talking about before we could start plugging fusion energy into our voracious power grids.
My fellow environmentalists can be a grumpy bunch, too. “Too little, too late,” they say, as per usual, adding that “we are out of time” already. Yet, in a world saturated with dismal news of war, inflation and climate disasters, surely a major scientific breakthrough like this should be an occasion to rejoice, a rare gift to revel in. Grateful to the Livermore scientists, this week, I attempt to absorb as much of the shimmer emanating from their fusion experiment as I possibly can, enough to charge me with optimism ahead of the holidays.
[1] Don’t be fooled by the ‘nuclear’ moniker, by the way. Nuclear fusion is the opposite of nuclear fission, currently employed by nuclear power stations to generate electricity and resulting in massive radioactive waste. During fusion, light nuclei merge to form a single heavier nucleus, producing much less radioactive waste that decays quickly.
