A series of satellite images provided to CNBC by Planet Labs shows the rapid building in 2024 of a giant new laser-fusion site in China. The containment dome where the fusion reaction will occur is roughly twice the size of NIF, the U.S. laser-fusion project, CNA Corporation's Decker Eveleth said. The China site is likely a fusion-fission hybrid, FIA's Holland said.
"A fusion-fission hybrid essentially is like replicating a bomb, but as a power plant. It would never work, never fly in a place like the United States, where you have a regulatory regime that determines safety," Holland said. "But in a regime like China, where it doesn't matter what the people who live next door say, if the government says we want to do it, we're going to do it."