Orlando Sentinel’s Central Florida 100: FUSION

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In probably one of the most important scientific developments ever, the Department of Energy announced this week that scientists at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in California created a nuclear fusion reaction with a net energy gain. Fusion is a nuclear result of combining, rather than dividing, atoms. What the sun does every day. The advantage of fusion over fission (currently used in nuclear reactors) is that it does not produce radioactive waste and, unlike fossil fuels, it does not produce carbon emissions. So, now that science has done its unprecedented part in facilitating a clean unlimited energy source, the next decade will be all about its commercial application.

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