At a massive facility in Livermore, California, scientists are conducting experiments that they hope will one day realize the dream of boundless clean energy. With a laser reportedly 1,000 times more powerful than the U.S. electrical grid, researchers are working to make fusion energy a reality.

In 2022, the National Ignition Facility achieved a historic breakthrough: a fusion reaction with a greater output than the energy used to trigger it. This crucial milestone came after 60 years of research, but it was only a tantalizing first step toward making fusion energy a reality. The work continues.

As Tammy Ma, the leader of the Inertial Fusion Energy Initiative at NIF, explained to CBS News, they are essentially making miniature stars on Earth: "Every time we do a fusion experiment on the NIF, we are actually the hottest place in the entire solar system, hotter than the center of the sun."

In layperson's terms, nuclear fusion is the process in which two light atomic nuclei combine to make a single heavier one, releasing gigantic amounts of energy — as the International Atomic Energy Agency details.

In essence, the goal is to recreate the same process that powers the sun. Nuclear fusion could generate four times more energy per unit of fuel than nuclear fission, which splits atoms.

Current nuclear power plants use nuclear fission. The advantage of fusion is that, unlike fission, it generates no long-lived radioactive waste.

The IAEA estimates that just a few grams of deuterium and tritium (types of heavy hydrogen) would be enough to meet the average person's energy needs in a developed country for 60 years. Essentially unlimited clean energy would go a long way to solving problems such as food and water shortages.

For example, desalination plants are incredibly expensive and require huge amounts of energy, but fusion energy could eliminate that problem. Similarly, vertical farming and lab-grown meat could also become more commercially viable if fusion energy becomes a reality.

The big question is: When, if ever, will we have fusion reactors? 

The idea of nuclear fusion dates back to the 1920s, but it has proved so much harder to achieve than fission.

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One of the biggest issues is finding a way to contain the reaction. At the moment, there's no answer about how to essentially bottle a plasma that's many times hotter than the surface of the sun for a significant amount of time.

Scientists are working on using magnetic fields to prevent the plasma from ever touching the walls of the fusion chamber, but challenges remain.

An experimental fusion reactor in France successfully maintained a plasma reaction for a record 22 minutes in February. Other nations are investing heavily in the technology, but even optimistic predictions place fusion reactors in the 2050s at the earliest. 

The 20th century had the space race, and the 21st may well have the fusion race. Who will win? If it ever reaches the finish line, humanity. 

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