A Breakthrough In Nuclear Fusion & The Future of Energy Production

There is good news recently for scientists, as a “breakthrough” in a technology announced by researchers in the United States. Don’t worry if it doesn’t sound familiar, because it shouldn’t: It doesn’t commercially exist yet.

The mysterious thing I’m talking about is nuclear fusion, which may sound quite similar to something more common, which is fission. Usually, I would first talk about the news update and then give you a further analysis. However, today we’re directly diving into nuclear fusion.

It’s safe to say that most people don’t like the word “nuclear,” since it usually relates to a very destructive weapon, a nuclear bomb. But fusion isn’t, which is much safer and commonly regarded as the ultimate renewable energy source. It might seem counter-intuitive, though it isn’t at all. To understand it, you need to understand the two types of nuclear reactions, fusion and fission, and all have to do with the basic atom.

Nuclear fission gets used in nuclear power plants, where workers artificially control the reaction and use it to power our energy grid. Fission is also used inside the infamous weapon, though I’m not going into it today. Anyway, fission gets caused by heavy nuclei splitting (these nuclei get found inside materials like Uranium-235), which releases energy and occasionally some electrons. Those electrons could collide with others and cause those to split, releasing energy and more electrons, causing a chain reaction.

The other process, fusion, is, as the name suggests, like fusing two lighter nuclei into one single heavy nuclei, which also causes a lot of energy to be released. The difference fusion has with fission is that, unlike fission, fusion doesn’t cause any harmful effects (at least to our current knowledge), like radioactive waste or greenhouse gases like when burning fossil fuels. The only byproduct created through a fusion reaction is helium. So if there are so many benefits and almost no disadvantages, why haven’t we switched to fusion energy?

The biggest problem with fusion energy is that scientists can’t sustain the process. The technology behind fusion energy is not as reliable as other energy production means. If you are one of those people, then you’re not wrong to think that way, as not many investors would want to invest their money into something that’s both expensive and not mature, with better options like wind and solar power.

However, that’s the trap that many new technologies face. They get turned down by investors who favour the more reliable option, which ultimately makes concepts like nuclear fusion stuck in the development stage. But those in favour of fusion technology say that fusion is different, as no harmful byproducts make it the best energy source, as renewable energy sources are just a transition away from fossil fuel burning.

The good news in all of this is the breakthrough recently by scientists in the US. In this particular experiment, scientists used lasers to blast a speck of solid hydrogen particles, which caused it to ignite eventually, creating energy. The breakthrough achieved recently was that the energy produced was more than the energy put into igniting the flame, which is a leap for fusion technology. However, we’re still several years from successfully harnessing nuclear fusion into our daily usage.

So after reading this article about fusion, what do you think about this technology? Would you invest in newer, untested tech over other options? As of now, we can only dream and wait for this miracle technology to develop and improve. That is the end of this production from the New News Newsminute. Thank you for reading, and please subscribe and do not miss future updates and analyses.