Energy Transition

What is nuclear fusion? The science – and the latest news on it – explained

Nuclear fusion is what happens in the Sun and other stars and involves joining two atomic nuclei to make one larger one.

Nuclear fusion is what happens in the Sun and other stars and involves joining two atomic nuclei to make one larger one. Image: Reuters

Kate Whiting
Senior Writer, Forum Agenda
Simon Torkington
Senior Writer, Forum Agenda
Share:
Our Impact
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Energy Transition is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:

Energy Transition

How the private sector has backed nuclear fusion in the past two decades.
How the private sector has backed nuclear fusion in the past two decades. Image: McKinsey

2015, Jet, Vessel, Interior, Shutdown, Intervention, 2014-15 InterventionIn Vessel Close out Photograph, view from Octant 1 - May 2015Jet Vessel Close Out Photographs fromn Octant 1 MHP following completion of 2014-15 Intervention - May 2015
The interior of the record-breaking nuclear fusion reactor at the JET fusion lab in Oxford, UK Image: UKAEA, courtesy of EUROfusion

Have you read?
Discover

What's the World Economic Forum doing about the transition to clean energy?

Nuclear fusion is the holy grail of clean energy.
Nuclear fusion is the holy grail of clean energy. Image: Renato Perillo

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Related topics:
Energy TransitionChemical and Advanced MaterialsNuclear Security
Share:
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

More on Energy Transition
See all

Transitioning Industrial Clusters towards Net Zero: National Policy Enablement for Industrial Decarbonization – Part II

Hydropower: How droughts are affecting the world's biggest renewable energy source

Andrea Willige

November 28, 2023

1:40

One of the world’s largest solar plants just came online in the UAE

About Us

Events

Media

More from the Forum

Partners & Members

  • Join Us

Language Editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

© 2023 World Economic Forum