State leaders, scientists and nuclear fusion industry members gathered at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery on May 5 to discuss how Wisconsin could position itself as a national hub for nuclear fusion, an emerging energy technology experts say could provide nearly limitless carbon-free power.
Hosted by 5 Lakes Institute, the third annual summit drew Gov. Tony Evers, engineers, lawmakers, supply chain companies and startup founders for lab tours and panel discussions on research, workforce development and legislation surrounding the growing industry. The event was significantly bigger this year, drawing around 400 people and signaling a desire to make Wisconsin an industry model for collaboration, research and fusion legislation.
Nuclear fusion, the reaction that powers the sun, happens when the positively charged nuclei of light atoms are forced together by hot, dense conditions. Fusion depends on a mechanism called quantum tunneling, where instead of actually overcoming the activation energy needed for the reaction, particles can infrequently “tunnel” through the energy barrier, University of Wisconsin-Madison physicist Cary Forest said at the summit…