Dec. 15—Oklahoma could land a fusion-based power plant after administrators from a renowned California lab visited the state to meet with possible stakeholders, a University of Oklahoma professor told The Transcript on Thursday.

The U.S. Department of Energy this week announced a breakthrough in fusion energy research that could pave the way for clean energy. The discovery, made at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, uses lasers to replicate the way the sun generates energy through fusion reactions.

The experiment, the first of its kind, produced more energy from fusion than from the laser energy used to drive it, according to the energy department.

Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, vice president for Research and Partnerships at the University of Oklahoma, previously served as deputy director for Science and Technology at the laboratory, which is funded by U.S. Department of Energy.

Díaz de la Rubia said he is preparing Oklahoma to serve as a hub for fusion-based energy.

The professor, who said he maintains a relationship with the laboratory, is currently in Washington D.C., where he is advocating for an undisclosed amount of money in the form of a grant — — called Longview Fusion Energy Systems Inc. — Milestone-based Fusion Program — — from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The funds would go to Longview Fusion Energy Systems, which will partner with the laboratory and scientists at National Ignition Facility, where the experiments were conducted, to develop concepts for a commercial power plant.

The university is collaborating with Longview Fusion Energy Systems to commercialize the laboratory's scientific breakthrough and develop the first pilot fusion power plant.

As part of the grant, a portion of the money would also go to OU, where Díaz de la Rubia plans to hire more professors to train students to create the infrastructure to build and operate commercial fusion power plants.

"I spent 24 years in Livermore at the lab. I worked on the national facility. I have a deep involvement in what happened," he told The Transcript. "You could imagine I am a strong advocate and believer in this."

Longview Energy Systems President Ed Moses and Chief Business Officer Valerie Roberts visited Oklahoma in June and met with community stakeholders about the possibility of building a fusion-based power plant, Díaz de la Rubia said.

"At this point, we are positioning ourselves to build the first-of-a kind power plant. There will be many in the future," he said. "We'll be the first one to develop and manufacture infrastructure that goes around the first of a kind power plant. It's going to create thousands of jobs. It's going to be a multibillion dollar project."

At this time, no plans to build a fusion-based power plant in Oklahoma have been finalized.

Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is among those saying the breakthrough is on par with the Wright brothers' first flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Díaz de la Rubia called it one of the most significant scientific breakthroughs in the past 20 to 30 years.

"I sort of compare this to the discovery of CRISPR CAS9, the genetic editing technology that is now used for all kinds of immunotherapies to advance cancer treatments and things of that nature that won a Nobel Prize a few years ago," he said.

"It is that sort of seminal discovery that has the potential to transform lives all over the world."

Fusion is the same energy that powers the stars, and it is made when two atomic nuclei from hydrogen are fused together, rather than being split apart.

Díaz de la Rubia said European scientists, including Albert Einstein, figured out how the sun created energy, and it has taken nearly 80 years of experimentation to figure out how to reproduce it safely, and in a contained atmosphere.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has been working actively on this project for 12 years.

"We've been close for a couple of years, and now undoubtedly, this breakthrough in getting fusion energy in the laboratory in a controlled manner has been demonstrated," he said.

The experiment in Livermore was not designed to connect to a grid, but Díaz de la Rubia is confident that creating a working model is possible as engineers have already started to create prototypes.

He said he expects the first pilot power plant to open in the early 2030s.

"That's what we are focused on here at the University of Oklahoma. It opens the path for exploring avenues for commercialization," he said. "So, If one is able, and I have no doubt, with our partners and others, to turn this scientific discovery into a successful fusion power plant that connects to the grid that generates power, it's a game-changer."

OU President Joseph Harroz Jr., said he isn't surprised the university is spearheading energy development.

"The University of Oklahoma has a legacy of being a leader in petroleum engineering and is strategically expanding our teaching and research to meet the energy demands of the future," Harroz stated in a news release.

"This breakthrough in fusion energy is an exciting discovery, and OU will be at the forefront in developing the expertise and workforce needed to help Oklahoma pioneer this promising technology."

Carol Silva, co-director of the Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis at OU, said that it is important for the university to develop the infrastructure to maintain a fusion program.

"Fusion energy is an incredibly exciting opportunity with immense potential for societal good, but the infrastructure and workforce development needed are significant," she said.

The institute will undertake a rigorous assessment of the social implications of this new technology, including collecting data on public values associated with fusion energy commercialization, and a stakeholder driven education and workforce development plan that will provide a unique and powerful asset in addressing some of these challenges," Silva said.

Unlike fission, the process that splits atoms apart, fusion does not emit greenhouse gasses.

"It has no radioactive waste of any sort. It's completely safe. There is no danger of a meltdown, like in Fukushima," Díaz de la Rubia said. "It's sustainable because it is hydrogen from water. It has all the attributes of exactly what the planet needs to augment renewables. It is not intermittent, it's always running ... it almost sounds too good to be true, but that's what it is."