Fusion, the Fuel of the Future Forever!

 Real Clear Energy, Are We on the Threshold of Commercial Fusion?

For how many years have we been told that nuclear fusion energy is just 20 or 30 years down the road? It is for the average guy hard to imagine human technology has advanced to the point that we are ready to generate the energy of the Sun and stars in much smaller doses – and control that energy without burning us in eternal fire.

But the ultimate alchemy (turning lead to gold is chicken feed by comparison) is, according to multiple private companies, much closer to reality than the timeline espoused by the myriad of international nuclear scientists building Europe’s ITER or even China’s artificial sun.

As Tim DeChan reports, three key technological advances have turned the dream (or, to some, the nightmare) of fusion energy from science fiction to planned operational status before the end of President Trump’s second term. Tbe trio? More powerful computer chips, more sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI), and powerful high-temperature superconducting magnets.

The first reported breakthrough came in late 2022 when 192 lasers at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory converged on a small gold cylinder that contained a tiny bead of fuel composed of isotopes of hydrogen, deuterium, and tritium.

The pellet ignited to produce a sustained fusion reaction that released about 50% more energy than was imparted by the lasers – which had heated the pellet to about 150 million degrees Celsius and compressed it with a pressure over twice that found at the center of the Sun.

While the experiment generated 50% more output than input energy, LLNL director Kim Budil was hardly effusive, stating that commercial fusion remained “probably decades away,” and that a few decades more of research might put us in the realm of a commercial power plant.

Commercial fusion remains “probably decades away,” she said. “Not six or five as we used to say, but moving into the foreground. A few decades of research into the underlying technologies could put us in the realm of a commercial power plant.” Or, shall we say, “30 years away” was still the prevailing mantra just three years ago.

CFS fusion reactor

 

CFS, whose investors include Bill Gates and his Breakthrough Energy Ventures, already has an agreement with Google to purchase half the output of its planned Arc commercial power plant, to be built near Richmond, VA. The successful launch of the 400 MW facility would justify the heavy investment with 200 MW of clean energy, theoretically at a greatly reduced cost, with very little radioactive waste to dispose of.

Can CFS really reach commercial fusion for Google (and lots of smaller customers) within the next decade – or sooner? Will its Sparc reactor be efficient enough to justify startup of the Arc? Stay tuned. But another fusion startup plans to beat CFS to the finish line.

With support from such notables as Reid Hoffman, Sam Altman, BlackRock, KKR, and Peter Thiel, Helion, based in Everett, WA, has raised $1.03 billion, bolstered by a $425 million infusion after its Polaris prototype field-reversed reactor made its debut. Now the firm is promising Microsoft, its primary customer, electricity from its reactor in 2028.

That’s three years from now – not thirty. If. It. Happens.

I first read about the possibility of fusion power when I was in elementary school (what can I say, I'm a science nerd).  Here we are 60+ years later, and we're still a ways away. I have hopes of seeing commercial fusion power, but they're fair faint.