Biden Wants Fusion Power by 2032. It’s Apt to Take Far Longer

A remarkable nuclear fusion milestone announced in Washington shows it may be possible to use the technology to build a commercial power plant — it just may take longer than the White House expects.

“The president has a decadal vision, to get to a commercial fusion reactor within 10 years,” US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Tuesday during an event disclosing the breakthrough. “This shows that it can be done.”

That schedule may be overly optimistic, according to the director of the laboratory where the experiment took place. While the achievement brings the world closer to commercial fusion, it ...