Many people recognize the need to turn to green energy solutions, such as solar panels and wind turbines. However, as ecologically friendly as those energy sources are, nuclear power dwarfs the other options in terms of the sheer amount of energy it can generate. Nuclear energy has to be part of a green future.
Nuclear power consists of two distinct technologies. One is nuclear fission, which is how all commercial nuclear power is currently produced. Energy is released when atomic nuclei are broken apart. This approach, however, generates large amounts of radioactive waste – some of which will last for centuries. In contrast, nuclear fusion creates energy by fusing atomic nuclei together. This process generates more energy than fission and far less radioactive waste.
A long-awaited nuclear fusion breakthrough
For the first time ever, U.S. scientists at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in....
