E137: The Missing Ingredient for Fusion Energy
From Everybody in the Pool by Molly Wood
May 28, 2026 · 32 min · Episode 137
About this episode
Molly Wood discusses the critical materials problem in fusion energy with Dr. John Elling, who is developing a new process for enriched lithium production.
We need to triple global energy production by 2050. Renewables are scaling fast, but the real wild card that could change everything might just be fusion. The physics and engineering are closer than ever, but there’s a critical materials problem standing between us and unlimited clean energy. This week on Everybody in the Pool , Molly speaks with Dr. John Elling, a Los Alamos chemist turned serial entrepreneur who’s working on a solution that he believes will change the world. Both fusion and next-generation fission reactors rely on enriched lithium isotopes, and existing enrichment methods are slow, expensive, and require massive facilities. Dr. Elling’s company, Molten Salt Solutions, is developing a simpler, cheaper process and building the US's first commercial production facility for enriched lithium — the ingredient that could determine whether fusion energy ever actually reaches the grid. We talk about: The big problem facing both fusion and advanced fission right now: the unmet demand for fuel A refresher on the science behind enriched lithium and nuclear energy The world’s growing energy demands, and why fusion will help us meet the 3x demand we’ll face by 2050 Why the…
People in this episode
Host: Molly Wood
Guest: Dr. John Elling
Topics covered
- fusion energy
- nuclear energy
- enriched lithium
- energy production
- clean energy
- materials science
Keywords
- fusion
- energy production
- enriched lithium
- nuclear reactors
- clean energy
- Molten Salt Solutions
- energy demand
- fission
- Los Alamos
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Los Alamos, Molten Salt Solutions, Russia
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