Energy company Pacific Fusion has selected Albuquerque as one of two cities, along with Fremont, California, to expand its operations by building a 225,000-square-foot facility in Mesa del Sol to develop nuclear fusion energy.
Fusion reactions are what power the sun, with strong gravitational forces creating conditions where two light nuclei fuse together into one larger nucleus, releasing fusion energy due to the total mass being less than the mass of the two original nuclei, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Scientists are attempting to generate this energy on earth through fusion machines to be used for electricity, according to the DOE.
Eric Lang, assistant professor in the University of New Mexico Nuclear Engineering department, researches fusion energy.
“We are combining two hydrogen atoms together to make a helium atom, which releases a bunch of energy, and we harness that energy and convert it into electricity. That’s the basics of how a fusion power plant works,” Lang said.
Scientists have designed fusion machines on earth to mimic the sun’s gravitational forces, Lang said.
Osman Anderoglu, associate professor at the UNM Nuclear Engineering department said that the energy released in fusion using one gram of fusion fuel equals the energy produced from about 2,400 gallons of oil.
In a fusion machine, the fuel sources are deuterium, derived and harvested from sea water, and tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, which is less readily available and can be created using lithium, according to the DOE.
Fusion energy has not been made commercial due to various technical and economic challenges, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
“A fusion reactor is a different environment than materials have ever experienced before, so we don’t know how a piece of steel is going to behave in that environment,” Lang said.
While fusion energy is often labeled as ‘clean energy’, Anderoglu said that it is clean in terms of zero carbon emissions, but there is still always radioactivity involved and waste generated.
According to Lang, the radioactive waste generated from fusion energy decays in around 100 years compared to the thousands of years that it takes for fission reactor waste to decay. However, there is likely going to be a larger volume of waste generated from a fusion power plant.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Anderoglu said he thinks nuclear fusion is “good news for New Mexico” and the University.
“There are multiple faculty in the (nuclear engineering) department, working on fusion related research,” Anderoglu said. “It will give the locals an opportunity to work in the field.”
Nuclear energy has a checkered past in New Mexico, Krystal Curley, the executive director of Indigenous Lifeways, said. Indigenous Lifeways is an indigenous, woman led non-profit organization working on climate adaptation and preserving native cultures, according to their website.
“We’ve been consistently put in this place of sacrifice of our people and our land to make way for (nuclear) technology,” Curley said. “We are tired of not being able to see our elders live long lives, tired of not having healthy lives, tired of dying from cancer and all these other sicknesses.”
New Mexicans have experienced environmental and health concerns and skepticism related to nuclear energy since Trinity test, other nuclear bomb tests, and uranium mining, according to the National Park Service.
There are over 500 abandoned uranium extraction mines posing health risks on the Navajo Nation, according to the EPA.
“The environmental impact of the nuclear industry in New Mexico is significant — that should not be understated,” Lang said. “If some sort of fusion plant is built here, I’d want to make sure that all of the people that have concerns are heard, and all the appropriate stakeholders are considered, not just the city for pure economic benefit or a flashy signing of a fusion company.”
Leila Chapa is the social media editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
Leila Chapa is the social media editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
