We are not sure when mankind first discovered how to harness fire and there is still much debate over when the wheel was invented, but this much is sure: We know when fusion energy went from a paper study to a proven fact.
It was on November 9, 1991 when the world witnessed what scientists reference as the first controlled “deuterium-tritium” experiment. It revealed creating fusion power was no longer a theoretical lab study but possible when sufficient power is harnessed by technology. Created in a lab within the United Kingdom, the reaction only lasted for about a second and more energy was put into the experiment than what was generated but it was the start of literally something big: fusion energy has the means to produce unlimited clean electricity using one of the most plentiful elements in the universe, hydrogen.
Another fusion milestone occurred on December 5, 2022, with the first controlled fusion experiment to achieve an actual net energy gain. That occurred on American soil, at The National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.
At a time when artificial intelligence data centers are a strategic resource that will define whether nations rise or fall, the ability to power them has become a subject of heated debate. While this past election cycle had many wringing their hands over the location and resource-consumption of these data centers, China is under no such illusions. The nation that secures dominance in AI will own the future. And the nation that can power these data centers through fusion power will own this century and beyond.
The Trump Administration will continue to fight those domestic headwinds.
It was also a November when the President created a dedicated Office of Fusion within the Department of Energy (DOE) a year ago. It was done for the specific purpose of making fusion power a viable solution to achieving energy independence now and for generations to come.
Access to energy has dictated the rise and fall of nations over the centuries. The simple fact is if the United States and its citizens wish to remain a democracy-based global force for good, it starts with the ability to own fusion energy leadership. We should mark this date for what it is – the start of a journey towards achieving that goal.
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