Pros of nuclear energy: 1. Carbon-free electricity 2. Small land footprint 3. High power output 4. Reliable energy source
**CLICK HERE** to register for the 3rd Public-Private Fusion Workshop at ITER (28-29 April 2026). # Advantages of fusion. **Millions of years**: Fusion in ITER will require two elements: deuterium and tritium. (Terrestrial reserves of lithium would permit the operation of fusion power plants for more than 1,000 years, while sea-based reserves of lithium, used in a fusion reactor in its Li-6 isotope form, would fulfil needs for millions of years.) A critical challenge is how to breed and recover tritium reliably in a fusion device. (Radioactive tritium is neither a fissile nor a fissionable material.) There are no enriched materials in a fusion reactor like ITER that could be exploited to make nuclear weapons. As a new source of carbon-free baseload electricity, producing no long-lived radioactive waste, fusion could make a positive contribution to the challenges of resource availability, reduced carbon emissions, and fission waste disposal and safety issues. ### What is Fusion? ITER is charting new territory in fusion research.
**Nuclear fusion has a low carbon footprint, cannot cause a nuclear accident or be used to produce nuclear weapons, uses readily available and energy-dense materials, and generates few waste products.**. **Nuclear fusion produces little to no greenhouse gas emissions and toxic byproducts, making it one of our most environmentally friendly energy sources.**. **In terms of effectiveness, nuclear fusion effectively generates nuclear energy because it has a low carbon footprint, cannot cause a nuclear accident or be used to produce nuclear weapons, and promotes energy independence and security. **In terms of efficiency, nuclear fusion efficiently generates nuclear energy while producing very few waste products, but the fusion reaction itself is difficult to start and maintain in a laboratory setting.**. Nuclear fusion has a low carbon footprint, cannot cause a nuclear accident or be used to produce nuclear weapons, uses readily available and energy dense materials, and generates few waste products.
In the race to net-zero carbon emissions, should countries still rely on nuclear energy or should they make space for more fossil fuels and renewable energy sources? ## **What Is Nuclear Energy?**. In the 1950s, early commercial nuclear power stations started operations, offering to many countries around the world an alternative to oil and gas import dependency and a far less polluting energy source than fossil fuels. Today, nuclear energy meets around 10% of global energy demand, with 439 currently operational nuclear plants in 32 countries and about 55 new reactors under construction. France’s success in cutting down emissions is a clear example of some of the main advantages of nuclear energy over fossil fuels. After the world saw the highly destructive effect of these bombs, which caused the death of tens of thousands of people, not only in the impact itself but also in the days, weeks, and months after the tragedy as a consequence of radiation sickness, nuclear energy evolved to a pure means of generating electricity.
Fusion promises no long lived radioactive waste, an abundant and self-sufficient fuel cycle, the creation of helium (a scarce element) and
The Office of Nuclear Energy within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) focuses its research primarily on maintaining the existing fleet of reactors, developing new advanced reactor technologies, and improving the nuclear fuel cycle to increase the sustainability of our energy supply and strengthen the U.S. economy. DOE and its national labs are working with industry to develop new reactors and fuels that will increase the overall performance of these technologies and reduce the amount of nuclear waste that is produced. DOE is currently evaluating nuclear power plant sites and nearby transportation infrastructure to support the eventual transport of used fuel away from these sites. The location of the storage facility would be selected through DOE's consent-based siting process that puts communities at the forefront and would ultimately reduce the number of locations where commercial spent nuclear fuel is stored in the United States. DOE is rebuilding its nuclear workforce by supporting the construction of two new reactors at Plant Vogtle in Waynesboro, Georgia.
Is it time to think about critical resources for fusion energy? * Nuclear fusion energy has the potential to provide clean, virtually limitless energy but before this mode of energy production can be deployed, many more scientific advances are needed. ## #1 We know how to generate energy with fusion. ### TRUE — Fusion can generate net positive energy within a limited scope. On 5th December 2022, NIF achieved target gain, meaning that 2.05 megajoules of laser energy delivered to the target generated 3.15 megajoules of fusion energy. ## #2 Fusion will become a source of clean, limitless energy. ### TRUE — Fusion is generally seen as “clean” energy. ### FALSE — Fusion energy may be near limitless, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to unending energy. I am optimistic that fusion will eventually provide clean energy to at least parts of the world. ### Is it time to think about critical resources for fusion energy?
Fusion is among the most environmentally friendly sources of energy. ## What’s the difference between nuclear fission and nuclear fusion? Both fusion and fission reactions shift the size of the reactant nuclei towards higher bounded nuclei. ## Does Fusion produce radioactive nuclear waste the same way fission does? Fusion on the other hand does not create any long-lived radioactive nuclear waste. A fusion reactor produces helium, which is an inert gas. ## Can fusion cause a nuclear accident? No, because fusion energy production is not based on a chain reaction, as is fission. ## Can fusion reactors be used to produce weapons? Working conditions of a magnetically-confined fusion reactor require a limited amount of fuel in the reactor. ## When is electricity generated through fusion expected to be available? At present, fusion devices produce more than ten megawatts of fusion power. ITER will be capable of producing 500 megawatts of fusion power. A prototype of a fusion reactor (DEMO) is expected to be built by 2040.