Interest in Nuclear Fusion Grows

Nuclear fusion is an atomic energy-releasing process in which light weight atomic nuclei, which might be hydrogen or deuterium, combine to form heavier nuclei, such as helium. The result is the release of a tremendous amount of energy in the form of heat. This is potentially an endless supply of energy for mankind, somewhat similar to the power of the Sun. Fusion is undergoing significant research efforts, including a multinational research consortium named ITER. In one approach, magnetic fusion, plasma heated to 100 million-degrees Celsius creates multiple fusion bursts controlled by powerful magnets. Under a different research approach, massive lasers bombard a frozen pellet of fuel creating a brief, intense fusion. (Traditional nuclear reactors work on “fission,” not fusion, and, in a simplification, are sometimes said to be “splitting” atoms.)

In recent years, the American mindset for nuclear power has been changing. The Infrastructure Act passed by Congress in 2021 calls for $3.2 billion for the development of advanced nuclear power plants. New technology developed by TerraPower (an energy company founded by Bill Gates, www.terrapower.com) calls for reactors that are simpler to build, operate at lower pressure and utilize uranium more efficiently (therefore reducing waste). The new Natrium reactor, which uses liquid sodium metal to shield the reactor core and transfer heat for energy production, combines a nuclear reactor with thermal energy resulting in a reliable, carbon-free energy source. The technology requires the production of a new high-assay low-enriched uranium. The first TerraPower Natrium reactor broke ground in June 2024 at the site of a former coal-fired power plant in Wyoming.

TECHNOLOGY SPOTLIGHT: TerraPower

A unique technology firm based in Bellevue, Washington has proposed a concept it calls TerraPower, www.terrapower.com, a dramatically different type of nuclear power. This technology would use a new class of reactor called TWR or traveling-wave reactor that would solve the current nuclear waste problem. TWRs would use today’s stockpiles of depleted uranium from power plants as its primary fuel source. The TWR would essentially be a reactor-reprocessor. Traditional reactors rely on uranium-235, and their operation leaves a more common uranium-238 as waste. Every year or two, traditional reactors must be opened and refueled, and the “spent” uranium-238 waste is stockpiled. Millions of pounds of it are now in storage. A TWR could be fed that uranium-238, which it would convert into a desirable fuel, plutonium-239. Similar conversion of U-238 has already been proven, but present technologies for reprocessing into plutonium are expensive and complicated. TWR could represent a significant step forward while reducing the potential of diverting plutonium to use in atomic weapons.

Nuclear startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) (cfs.energy) signed a deal with Google in July 2025 to supply 200 megawatts of energy from CFS’ first commercial fusion reactor, the ARC plant in Chesterfield County, Virginia. ARC stands for “affordable, robust, compact.” CFS was spun out of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion center and is backed by Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures technology fund. The deal follows a 2023 agreement between Microsoft and Helion Energy for 50 megawatts of fusion energy (provided through Constellation Energy), with a commitment to a production start in 2028.

Meanwhile, Three Mile Island, the site of the worst nuclear power accident in the U.S., will reopen under an agreement between Constellation Energy and Microsoft. Constellation will restart the plant’s undamaged reactor (which has been closed since 2019) at a cost of about $1.6 billion with a restart date expected in 2028. Microsoft has entered into a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation, as Microsoft needs the power to fuel its soaring cloud computing and AI computing business.

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