Wisconsin lawmakers push nuclear energy as solution to rising power demands

MADISON, Wis. (Gray) - At Realta Fusion in Stoughton, a prototype fusion reactor constantly whirrs. The UW-Madison startup will be the key to a clean energy future, according to Co-Founder Keiran Furlong.

“What Detroit was in the 1950s to the automobile and was the center of that industry,” Furlong said. “That prize is there for the taking.”

Furlong, with the help of increasing bipartisan support from lawmakers, hopes his prototype will be ready for commercial use by the 2030s.

“I really think people in Wisconsin are realizing that we kind of have a diamond in the rough here,” Furlong said.

Furlong’s work focuses on fusion where atoms are combined, unlike fission where traditional nuclear power splits atoms apart.

Whether fusion or fission, nuclear energy is gaining legislative suppor