Fusion Power Cannot Count On Governments

Nuclear fusion promises to generate more energy, more safely, than nuclear fission. Aside from technical and institutional challenges, limited interest from governments makes progress uncertain.

Colorized image of a deuterium-tritium implosion at the U.S. National Ignition Facility in Livermore, California, in 2016. Photo by Don Jedlovec. Source.

Nuclear fusion is a reaction where the nuclei of atoms fuse and thereby release energy. While nuclear fission, where an atom’s nucleus is split, is commonly used to provide energy through nuclear power plants, fusion has not been demonstrated to be commercially viable. Fusion, however, might be an even better source of energy than fission. Fusion reactions can release at least four times as much energy as fission reactions per unit of mass, which is itself millions of times more energy dense than coal, oil, or natural gas.¹