Tennessee, TVA and the UK team up on nuclear fusion

Tennessee just signed a deal to build an industry around power that doesn't exist yet. The state, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the United Kingdom announced Monday they're teaming up on fusion energy. The agreement covers supply chains and worker training, not a specific reactor. Nobody has ever run a fusion plant that produces more power than it consumes.

Fusion promises power without the waste or meltdown risk of today's nuclear plants. Every attempt so far has used more energy to run the reaction than it produces. That hasn't stopped the money. TVA already has a letter of intent with fusion startup Type One Energy. That deal covers a plant at Tennessee's Clinch River site. This UK deal adds international supply chains and trained workers to that bet. The goal is to be ready the moment the physics actually works.

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Will fusion actually deliver in time to matter? Nobody can say yet. Deals like this are a bet that the breakthrough is close enough to prepare for now. If it isn't, Tennessee and the UK will have built factories and trained workers for nothing. The technology would still be stuck in the lab.