Kerry calls for global cooperation while unveiling US nuclear fusion plan - The Hill
Kerry calls for global cooperation while unveiling US nuclear fusion plan | The Hill
Kerry calls for global cooperation while unveiling US nuclear fusion plan
Special climate envoy John Kerry on Tuesday called for global cooperation as he laid out a strategy for U.S. engagement on nuclear fusion energy.
“The United States was proud to announce its bold decadal vision for commercial fusion energy last year … but, it is clear we cannot realize this grand ambition — perhaps not at all but certainly not at the pace we need to — doing it alone,” Kerry said during a speech at a global climate summit in Dubai.
Last year, U.S. researchers had a breakthrough in advancing nuclear fusion energy technology — getting a net energy gain from a fusion reaction for the first time.
At the time, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the U.S. hoped to achieve commercial fusion within a decade, though the director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where the breakthrough occurred, said it could take “decades” before the technology is commercialized.
In a nuclear fusion reaction, atoms are fused together to produce energy. This differs from the nuclear energy technology that is used for power today, which splits apart atoms.
A key difference between the two is that fusion’s waste does not require long-term storage, a major challenge associated with existing commercial nuclear energy. It is a carbon-free source of power.
When the breakthrough was announced, a defense official also called fusion “an essential process in modern nuclear weapons.”
Kerry said the U.S. international engagement plan for fusion has five pillars: research and development; supply chains and the marketplace; regulation; workforce; and education and engagement.
“This is a call to action folks,” he said, also saying fusion has the potential “to revolutionize our world … and provide the world with abundant clean energy”
Over the weekend, the White House also released a little-noticed fact sheet with more details on the country’s engagement strategy for nuclear fusion energy, including opening access to test facilities, comparing experiences with key partner countries and international organizations and coordinating on security.
Jennifer Granholm John Kerry
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Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: nuclear
Nuclear energy provides almost 20 percent of the U.S. electricity supply. Advocates have called for an expanded role for nuclear as an emissions-free fuel source. But the economics of building new reactors are daunting. In addition, lingering safety concerns are an institutionalized part of the calculation of nuclear regulation, and highly radioactive nuclear waste remains a can that public officials have been inclined to kick down the road. The Energy Information Administration projects a sharp decline in nuclear power generation over the next decade, as new nuclear plants — two are planned — are more than offset by anticipated retirements of several operating reactors.