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.