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2022 brought big news in clean energy, with new developments happening all the time. All this might cause some confusion, so let’s make it nuclear.

Fusion shoves atomic nuclei together. It’s how stars get their power. Fission splits atoms apart.
20% of electricity generated nationwide already comes from fission, according to the Department of Energy. That 20% is produced by just 92 nuclear reactors. Did you know? The nearest one is the Wolf Creek Generating Station, located in Burlington, KS (~1.5 hours away).
Ignition just means they got more energy out of the reaction than they put in — fusing atoms is hard work.

Putting it all together: fusion reactions have the potential to produce much more energy than fission reactions, and the process only creates helium (read: no radioactive waste). Fusion ignition is a big step in that direction.

Now, if only we could use that energy to charge our phones…