This company says nuclear fusion could finally power the grid — and soon | CNN

A Massachusetts-based fusion company took another step this week in its race to become the first to get the same power fueling the sun and stars onto the US electrical grid. Commonwealth Fusion Systems is currently building a donut-shaped machine called a tokamak — a chamber where atoms are smashed together in 100-million-degree plasma. The nuclear fusion reaction, forcing two atoms to merge, creates heat energy in the same way as the sun. It’s the polar opposite of conventional nuclear energy — a fission reaction that splits atoms. And it could be the key to unlocking nearly limitless power, all without long-lived nuclear waste or greenhouse gases that warm the planet. Fuel for fusion is abundant. It’s derived from deuterium, found in seawater, and tritium, which is extracted from lithium. The company’s demonstration tokamak in Massachusetts is 75% built and slated to be operational by late next year. If it can successfully achieve net energy — producing more energy than what gets put in to run it — Commonwealth’s next step is building a 400-megawatt fusion power plant in Virginia. That will be named the Fall Line Fusion Power Station, the company announced Tuesday