Harnessing the power of nuclear fusion to generate electricity is a longstanding aspiration of the physics community. One company working towards this goal is UK-based First Light Fusion, which is using a technique called projectile fusion to create a simple, low-cost inertial fusion power plant.
About eight months ago, scientists at a US-government-funded lab replicated the process that powers stars—nuclear fusion—and created more energy than they put in. Now, physicists and engineers at the same facility, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Northern California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, appear to have successfully created an energy-gaining fusion experiment for the second time.
General Fusion today announced $25 million in new funding and plans to build a demonstration machine in its home province of British Columbia.
Colorado State University and a German technology company are teaming up on what is expected to be one of the most powerful laser facilities in the world and a major step in the quest to commercialize fusion energy, long seen as a potential source of carbon-free power.
US government scientists have achieved net energy gain in a fusion reaction for the second time, a result that is set to fuel optimism that progress is being made towards the dream of limitless, zero-carbon power.
On Monday, July 31, the UK Science, Innovation and Technology Committee published a comprehensive report on delivering nuclear power, concluding that the UK should continue R&D for fusion technologies with fusion as a ‘part of the Government’s long-term energy plan’.
Meet the startups attracting investor attention and leading the race for nuclear fusion energy.
On Tuesday, July 25, the U.S. Department of Energy announced $4.6m for FY2023 INFUSE awards, further driving public-private partnerships between national labs & universities and industry to drive efforts towards fusion commercialization.
The Congressional Appropriations Committees in both the House and Senate, which write the bills that will fund the government, have passed their proposed funding bills for fusion energy research in the Energy and Water Appropriations bills, cutting the fusion budget significantly from the President’s request of $1.01 billion. In March, the President’s request to Congress…
$1.4B has been raised and 13 fusion start-ups have launched in the past year globally. But the industry now faces a valley of death as it tries to attract fresh money to build nuclear fusion prototypes.