In a world where utility rates are rising faster than inflation, one Dallas teen is working on a nearly limitless energy source for the future.
It sounds like the promotion for a science-fiction movie, and Russell Crow — a retired laser engineer, not the similarly named actor — is already on board.
The teen is Aidan McMillan, who at age 8 decided to build a nuclear fusion device to kill time during the COVID-19 lockdown. Crow began mentoring the young scientist as the work progressed during the next couple of years, according to The Dallas Morning News.
McMillan's machine achieved fusion early in the morning on the cusp of his 12th birthday in 2024, making him the youngest person to duplicate the same energy source as the sun, pending final review by Guinness World Records.
"To be honest, it's less about the fact that I did nuclear fusion and more about the fact that I learned a lot of skills," McMillan told the Morning News. He built the reactor at Dallas Makerspace in Carrollton.
Nuclear fusion is being developed through multi-billion-dollar projects worldwide. Expert teams are trying to harness intense heat and swirling plasma in costly magnetic chambers, with the goal of sustainably producing more energy than what is needed to operate.
Fusion slams atoms together to form new ones — along with energy — while nuclear fission splits particles during collisions, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Fission produces about 9% of the world's power by producing heat that turns turbines, the World Nuclear Association added. It also produces radioactive waste and carries rare, yet catastrophic, meltdown risks.
Fusion operates without those concerns, but it has yet to be scaled for practical use. The Union of Concerned Scientists is wary about safety, weapons, and security risks associated with nuclear research, while proponents feel the abundant energy is worth it. Nuclear energy also generates power with minimal harmful air pollution.
McMillan's creation is a Farnsworth reactor — a scaled-down relative of the powerful tokamak chambers being built in the big labs. But these units are safer for budding students interested in electric fields, charged particles, and atoms moving at extreme speeds, according to the Morning News.
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Save $1,000 this year 💸 McMillan's unit passes electricity through deuterium gas in a vacuum chamber, creating plasma, and separating positively charged particles that are pulled to the center and collide, the summary continued.
He originally considered an electron microscope project before settling on fusion work, which attracted expert oversight.
"I gave him guidance here and there whenever he needed it," Crow told the newspaper, adding that the group was "fired up" about the success.
McMillan's contraption is a tabletop device with some high-tech-looking equipment and a plastic jug. A "Danger High Voltage" sign is on the front of the cart carrying it, per photos shared by the Morning News.
The assemblage of parts cost $20,000 and includes some secondhand components. It's evidence that fusion experiments aren't limited to billion-dollar labs.
"The fact that this community exists pushes back on the notion that this is an ivory tower pursuit," University of New Mexico Professor Carl Willis told the newspaper. He was a specialist witness for the Guinness attempt.
It's a unique way to take local action in pursuit of sustainable energy. But even planning a local litter pickup or exploring home solar are ways to help encourage a sustainable future.
McMillan spent hours researching fusion and Googling complex terms. He credited the makerspace for supporting the work.
"The idea behind the space is to help kids to do whatever they want to do and also have peers who are at the same level of 'out there,'" he told the Morning News.
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