Local scientists react to fusion energy breakthrough

Local scientists are reacting to what's being called a breakthrough in nuclear fusion.The major advance from scientists in California was announced in Washington D.C.This is the first time scientists have ever successfully produced a nuclear fusion reaction resulting in a net energy gain, instead of breaking even as past experiments have done.One University of Cincinnati professor explained how much of a major milestone this means."The main application isn't actually so much necessarily energy but weapons development and understanding weapons. So with for example with hydrogen bombs we have fusion reactions so this helps us understand how those work," UC Assistant Physics Professor Philip Ilten said.Itlen said this has taken somewhere around 60 years to accomplish and for practical energy release and everyday use. We could still be decades away, but this is a huge step.