Quantum computing is kicking the doors open on a fusion energy problem that has long challenged scientists. IBM, in partnership with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Cleveland Clinic, discovered a new way to model how fusion plants could produce and recover tritium. It’s a rare fuel  found in several common objects that are radioactive. Tritium is created naturally when cosmic rays reach the upper atmosphere, but supplies are limited as its 12-year half-life results in relatively quick decay. The lack of tritium is a roadblock to having fusion as a power source. But this radioactive isotype of hydrogen can be produced by exposing more commonly available lithium to neutrons. Tritium is notoriously hard to capture and reuse, but a molten salt known as FLiBe (fluorine, lithium, and beryllium) can surround the fusion reaction like a blanket, helping with this process. Scientists need to know which recipe for doing so is the most efficient, but calculations on this scale are too challenging for classical computers. 

Full report : IBM Just Made A Huge Fusion Energy Breakthrough Thanks To Quantum Computing.