by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (Worthy News) – The United States is turning to cutting-edge nuclear fusion technology to help modernize and verify its nuclear weapons stockpile as Washington confronts an accelerating three-way strategic competition with China and Russia, according to an exclusive report by The Wall Street Journal.
At the center of the effort is Pacific Fusion, which has broken ground on a roughly $1 billion fusion research and manufacturing campus in Albuquerque. Its planned Demonstration System is designed to generate bursts of fusion energy exceeding 100 megajoules, recreating some of the enormous temperatures and pressures associated with a nuclear detonation—without the United States having to resume underground explosive nuclear testing.
The National Nuclear Security Administration has signed an agreement with Pacific Fusion establishing a framework for cooperation on high-yield fusion and national-security research. The NNSA says inertial-confinement fusion experiments allow scientists to expose weapons-related materials to conditions characteristic of nuclear explosions, helping assess, certify and design the nation’s nuclear stockpile.
The development comes as American officials increasingly warn that China is rapidly expanding its nuclear forces while Russia continues modernizing its own arsenal. The Journal reported that Washington increasingly views fusion, artificial intelligence and advanced supercomputing as critical tools for maintaining America’s nuclear deterrent as traditional arms-control restraints weaken.
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