My Opinion on the Impact of Nuclear Fusion

Ayush Nair

24 March 2023

Word Count: 396

Like many others, I have heard numerous things about the effects of climate change, and have
learned much about greenhouse gasses over the years. As someone who will be living in a future where
our massive greenhouse gas emissions will showcase their adverse effects, I have consistently been in
support of finding better fuel sources and limiting our emissions with new regulations. Reading through
this article without knowing any real facts about nuclear fusion, it was amazing to learn that such a
powerful energy source is decades away from bettering our lives tenfold. To learn that so many countries
wish to collaborate in order to reach a world-changing goal gave me hope for a world that seemed very
much at risk of falling apart due to climate change.

Learning about nuclear fusion itself was also quite interesting. To think that we humans are
capable of creating temperatures over 10 times that of the sun is astounding, and it really shows me how
intellectually advanced the work so many people are doing is. Also, understanding that this much work is
required to fuse and maintain naturally occurring isotopes like tritium and deuterium also paints a picture
of how difficult the work of chemists can really be. Many people do not truly grasp how far we have
dived into the realms of biology, chemistry, and physics, and how much effort is required to work on
projects like the development of nuclear fusion, myself included.

However, most of what I took away from this article was not the scientific aspect, but the political
aspect, and how little the public knows about the work behind the scenes. Many people simply do nothing
or actively fight against changing the resources we use as energy in the world, always thinking about what
benefits them. Now knowing there are worldwide organizations like the IAEA working to better our
world is comforting. It only pushes me to support these projects, and potentially choose to work in STEM
so I can have an impact on the world like the many scientists in Canada. Overall, my key takeaway is to
support projects like ITER and tell others about their existence. After reading, I am left with the thought
of how to reduce emissions myself on a personal level, so that we as a whole have a bit more time for the
world-changing work to be completed.