The breakthrough scientific moment for fusion power—and the potential for nearly limitless electricity from a so-called star in a jar—came at the end of 2022 when scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory successfully achieved “first ignition,” fusing atoms through extreme heat to generate more energy than the setup consumes for the first time ever.
The project’s principal designer, nuclear physicist Annie Kritcher, wasn’t content to keep the science in the lab after achieving what she deemed the “Wright brothers’ moment” for fusion. Kritcher cofounded Inertia Enterprises in August to bring the power to the actual grid. The potential promise of fusion is for consistent, clean power without radioactive waste, intermittency issues, or the dependence on foreign supply chains.
