Nuclear power plants all operate using nuclear fission, but one energy startup has plans to change this. Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) has announced plans to build the world's first nuclear fusion power plant.

Set to be located in Chesterfield County, Virginia, the plant will infuse "400 megawatts of steady fusion power into the state's electrical grid starting in the early 2030s," CFS said in a press release. Unlike nuclear fission, which splits atoms to create energy, nuclear fusion generates power by combining atoms. It's the process that powers the sun. Power plants have never used this process because it's extremely difficult, requiring temperatures over 180 million degrees Fahrenheit and immense amounts of pressure and energy. 

'Long-elusive goal'
Creating a fusion-based power plant is a "long-elusive goal that scientists have pursued for the better part of a century," said The New York Times. If successful, CFS' plant could "generate abundant electricity without releasing planet-warming carbon dioxide and with no risk of large-scale nuclear accidents," providing a much sought-after alternative to current nuclear power plants. 

Many recent advances have created "hope that the technology could be achievable in the next few years," said The Washington Post. CFS estimates it could power about 150,000 homes. Scientists "need to start fitting fusion energy into our code where necessary, because fusion energy for years has been theoretical,” said Richard C. Sullivan Jr., a Democrat in the Virginia House of Delegates. 

'Failed promises'
Despite the optimism from CFS, many "failed promises litter the path to workable fusion," said Scientific American. So we should "hold our nuclear horses for just a moment." Given its difficulties, fusion is the "kind of technology that always seems to be just 15 years away." 

While the ultimate goal of the project is to prove that fusion reactors can be commercialized, the "path toward it is unlikely to be smooth, not least because the technology has not yet been proved viable," said at CNN. There's a "big difference between producing energy from fusion," said Jerry Navratil, a professor of fusion energy and plasma physics at Columbia University, to CNN, "and having a practical system that puts power on the grid and is safe, licensed and operating."

Black artists have long been a part of the country music industry, lending some of their cultural influences to one of the most American of music genres. But Beyoncé's formal entry into the genre this year demanded attention from fans and critics of her, as well as of a bevy of contemporary Black country artists.

Beyoncé effect
Beyoncé followed up her "Renaissance: Act I" album with Act II, a country music album called "Cowboy Carter." The album was inspired by an experience five years ago during which Beyoncé "did not feel welcomed," she said on Instagram. "Cowboy Carter" was "widely interpreted as an act of reclamation — a deliberate move to recoup space in a genre indebted to Black people" but "whose audience and public perception have been whitewashed over time," said Business Insider. 

Still, it may be a "stretch to suggest Beyoncé can single-handedly reclaim country music for Black people," said Business Insider. That would imply that Black people "have been absent" from country music, and "that's not the case," said Billboard. 

The "boost in attention and newfound country fans helped, whether it was intended that way or not," country music singer-songwriter Ernest said to The New York Times. "The needle has been moved so far this way that it will never swing back as far as it was."

Shaboozey storm
Rapper and country singer Shaboozey (pictured above), another artist featured on "Cowboy Carter," had a breakout year of his own. His "A Bar Song (Tipsy)," a "seamless and savvy hybrid of country and hip-hop" built around the 2004 hip-hop hit "Tipsy" by J-Kwon, was rewarded with a "record-tying 19 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100," said the Times.

He's one of only a few Black artists nominated for the Country Music Associations' New Artist of the Year, but he walked away from the awards empty-handed. But the shun cannot detract from what has been a good year for Shaboozey. He racked up six Grammy nominations, including nods for Best New Artist and his feature on "Spaghettii," one of the two songs he recorded for "Cowboy Carter."