Major investments in fission are key to decarbonizing our future

OPINION:

On March 9, President Biden laid out his funding priorities in his proposed budget for 2024. Of these funding priorities, he included a record $1 billion in new investments in fusion programs.

In a vacuum, this investment would make sense as the world continues to grapple with climate change and the search for clean energy sources has become a top priority. With its potential for limitless and clean energy, fusion has become somewhat of a holy grail for such aspirations and a recipient of significant investments by Silicon Valley and green investors.

With the potential government investment, more private equity funding is sure to follow. That said, the fact remains that the path to commercial fusion energy remains a long and difficult one, and it would seem that both Silicon Valley and the federal government are missing a crucial step in the path to fusion commercialization — namely, investment in fission.

The challenges for fusion commercializing are many. But probably the greatest challenges are the high temperatures required to build up to a fusion reaction and, in tandem, major supply chain issues, including, most importantly, low supplies of a critical fuel source, tritium.

Tritium is a special radioactive form of hydrogen. It is proposed to be produced through neutron capture by lithium-6, a process that is already carried out in some fission reactors today for defense needs. Clearly, at this time, fission plays a crucial role in providing the tritium needed for fusion research and development. At present, global tritium production capacities are very low, and without exploring a holistic strategy of fusion coupled with fission, there is no feasible way to turn the fusion illusion into fusion reality.

One of the most reliable forms of energy known to man, fission has yet to reach its maximum potential. This is mainly because the West has failed to incorporate a closed fuel cycle.

Such a platform requires nuclear waste recycling and next-generation fission reactors — as the forebears of nuclear energy had imagined. With the risk that commercially available tritium stockpiles in the 2050s will be insufficient to meet the fusion demands, the idea that fusion is some silver bullet to climate change seems fantastic.

Simply put, until the U.S. government comes to terms with the fact that fusion is far off and major investments in fission are key to decarbonizing our future, the path to a clean and sustainable future will remain elusive.

This is why Congress must work in a transpartisan fashion with the Biden administration to unlock the potential of fission.

This means adapting a closed fuel cycle policy as the foundation of its nuclear energy development. Starting with the recognition that nuclear waste recycling is a critical avenue in nuclear technology innovation, Congress should support the development of new technologies that greatly reduce radioactive waste while recovering valuable materials like uranium fuel, blended transuranic fuels for advanced reactors, and a plethora of other isotope commodities to support various industries (that are now completely reliant on Russia).

Reducing the waste burden not only allows Congress to resolve its long-term obligations to ratepayers but also allows the industry to unlock the nuclear power of the future.

Moreover, when done correctly, nuclear waste recycling not only offers fuel for reactors of the next decade but could also be a significant source of tritium to support future fusion development.

With these next-gen fission reactors online, the nuclear industry will be able to spare neutrons to generate tritium. There are also concepts for future hybrid reactors that have the added benefit of consuming high-energy neutrons from fusion reactions to sustain fission reactions — neutrons that would otherwise damage the fusion reactor’s containment. In contrast, other methods of achieving fusion energy, such as inertial confinement fusion and magnetic confinement fusion, have their own limitations and are far off on the horizon.

While renewables have their place in reducing our carbon footprint, limitations such as variability and intermittency continue to make the case that nuclear energy, when done right, will be the key to a stable and reliable power grid.

By investing in nuclear waste recycling and next-gen fission reactors, the United States can reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and provide clean and abundant energy for future generations.

If Congress wants the U.S. to achieve true energy independence, it must pursue a multifaceted approach. Building an interconnected energy policy that supports an all-of-the-above strategy will bring humanity to the pinnacle of its potential. By investing in advanced fission-related technologies, we can reduce the nuclear waste burden, provide reliable energy, and perhaps even lay a steppingstone to the holy grail of energy itself.

• Rabbi Yechezkel Moskowitz is the founder of Synergos Holdings, a next-gen accelerator focused on incubating a vertically integrated ecosystem for a sustainable future. As part of its investment strategy, Rabbi Moskowitz founded Curio, a nuclear innovation startup focused on closing the fuel cycle. Vik Singh serves as chief innovation officer at Curio, where he leads development of advanced nuclear technologies including waste recycling and next-gen reactors.