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A World-Changing Technology, Still Unrealized
The parts shown here come from "Scylla," an experimental fusion apparatus that was built and successfully tested at the national Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in 1958. This was the first demonstration of a nuclear fusion reaction that could, in principle, be controllably sustained and used to generate power. In the reaction two hydrogen nuclei combine and release energy, just as they do in stars.
Fusion could be a transformative technology -- far cleaner and safer than today's fission-based reactors. This may be a reality sooner than we think: researchers are pursuing the goal of making such a device workable within the next decade. Such a breakthrough would greatly reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and could even fuel travel into deep space. |