Fusion
A week or so ago, scientists finally created a nuclear fusion reaction that produced more energy than it took to create it.
Harnessing this sort of energy production could accelerate our critical move away from reliance on fossil fuels for energy. Maybe not in time to stabilize the climate before the changes are irreversible, but still something future generations can rely on to survive.
But now comes the hard part: communicating about it.
(Kidding. The hardest part is controlling the power of this discovery. But humor me.)
A psychedelic oil painting of the birth of a star | Created by Jay W. Austin & DALL•E
People are generally touchy about nuclear things.
Past explosions and meltdowns and bombs and current threats of all those things tend to lend nuclear its negative connotation. These stories and ideas nestle themselves into that highly irrational (and therefore, human) part of our psyche.
It’s the part of us that assigns meaning to something inherently neutral.
When people express their aversion to nuclear things, it does sound like they’re talking about nuclear things: war, how destructive they can be, etc. But all those things are consequences of poor behavior and design by the thing we’re actually most fearful and distrustful of: the human.
We’re touchy about nuclear because we’re touchy about people with that power.
The largest nuclear power plant in Europe is in Ukraine.
In March 2022, the Russian military shelled and shot and coerced its way into control of Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian staff continued operating the plant despite the interference (to say the absolute least) of the occupiers.
The staff members who have endured this takeover and kept their community as safe as possible are inspirations.
Nuclear fusion is the reaction that makes a star shine. It’s also one of the reactions that makes a thermonuclear bomb explode.
From a communications perspective, public acceptance of fusion as a viable energy source will likely require a few things:
Proof that it’s already being used somewhere without incident.
Honest, serious, scientific-and-non-scientific acknowledgment of past breakdowns in the technology and humans involved.
A pragmatic vision of the future that this technology could bring to someone who is just tired of government hyperbole and bullshit.
Aye, I’m Jay. You’re on my personal site where I post things I make about interrupting mass incarceration, protecting migration, environmental justice & sustainability, language, communications, storytelling, creativity, and tech.
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