US aims to create nuclear fusion facility within 10 years, Energy chief Granholm says
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm says nuclear fusion is a pioneering technology and the Biden administration wants to harness it as part of the transition to clean energy
VIENNA — VIENNA (AP) — The Biden administration hopes to create a commercial nuclear fusion facility within 10 years as part of the nation's transition to clean energy, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Monday.
Calling nuclear fusion a pioneering technology, Granholm said President Joe Biden wants to harness fusion as a carbon-free energy source that can power homes and businesses.
«It’s not out of the realm of possibility” that the U.S. could achieve Biden’s “decadal vision of commercial fusion,” Granholm said in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press in Vienna.
Fusion works by pressing hydrogen atoms into each other with such force that they combine into helium, releasing enormous amounts of energy and heat. Unlike other nuclear reactions, it doesn’t create radioactive waste. Proponents of nuclear fusion hope it could one day displace fossil fuels and other traditional energy sources. But producing carbon-free energy that powers homes and businesses from fusion is still decades away.
A successful nuclear fusion was first achieved by researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California last December in a major breakthrough after decades of work.
Granholm also praised the role of the Vienna-based U.N. nuclear watchdog in verifying that states live up to their international commitments and do not use their nuclear programs for illicit purposes, including to build nuclear weapons.
“The IAEA is instrumental in making sure that nuclear is harnessed for good and that it does not fall into the hands of bad
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