While nuclear energy usually refers to nuclear fission – splitting large atoms such as uranium to release energy – we can theoretically harvest the energy produced when tiny hydrogen atoms fuse to form slightly bigger helium atoms. The sun relies on this process to produce the vast majority of its energy. Since fusion releases no greenhouse gasses, it could one day provide an abundant clean power source. Beyond the need for extremely specialized, expensive equipment, the main challenge is that using fusion to generate electricity or industrial heat requires lots of energy to make hydrogen atoms fuse in the first place. The technology has been advancing steadily, but there are still a number of engineering questions to be solved for fusion experiments to reach engineering breakeven and to become a source of electricity on the grid. 

Advocates of nuclear fusion argue that various new iterations and reactor designs could hold the potential to make the technology commercially viable, but skeptics joke that fusion has been ‘twenty years away’ for the best part of a century. Even the most optimistic estimates generally project fusion as a significant power source in or after the 2040s. Given that climate scientists warn that the world must reach net-negative emissions by around 2050, there is a risk that fusion power will not be available in time to make a significant contribution by then.

To activate this Global Project, players need to tuck Local Project cards from their hands under this card. The requirement is 2 Innovation tags in a Solo or 2-player game, or 2 Innovation and 1 Incentive tags in a 3-player or 4-player game.

Once active: When a player takes a Local action on a card with a Nuclear tag that generates Clean Energy tokens, they add double the Clean Energy tokens to their player board.

• What is Nuclear Fusion (International Atomic Energy Agency)

• US scientists achieve net energy gain for second time in nuclear fusion reaction (The Guardian)

You can write to your political representatives to encourage the support of R+D around nuclear fusion, though given that even the most optimistic estimates predict that fusion will arrive too late to tackle the climate emergency, you may prefer to advocate for the ramping up of research and development around more reliable, proven, green tech.