COP28: US Announced International Fusion Plan
World | December 6, 2023, Wednesday // 17:55| viewsSpecial climate envoy and former US secretary of state John Kerry unveiled and announced the launch of an international plan to boost fusion, saying the emission-free technology could become a vital tool in the fight against climate change.
To begin with, the plan is supported by 35 nations and will focus on research and development, supply chain issues, regulation and safety.
"Fusion has the potential to bring about revolutionary changes in our world," Kerry also said at the United Nations Climate Summit (COP28) in Dubai.
In December 2022, researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California were, for the first time, able to produce more energy than was input in a fusion reaction experiment. The US announced the achievement as a historic scientific breakthrough.
It is believed that the nascent technology could have an important advantage over today's nuclear fission plants by producing vast amounts of energy in a safe, limitless and environmentally friendly way. In addition to the slow progress in the development of the technology, however, there are obstacles to the deployment of new parks of power plants to replace parts of existing energy systems, both from the point of view of construction and rules (regulation), notes "Reuters".
The European Union is involved in the ITER project, which aims to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of nuclear fusion energy, the process that powers the sun and stars. The US is among the remaining six participants along with Japan, India, the Republic of Korea, China and the Russian Federation. The EU is covering almost half of the construction costs of the France-based project, with the rest split between the listed countries.
Britain and the United States signed a fusion cooperation agreement on November 8. Australia, China, Germany and Japan are also investing in the development of the technology.
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