The world is about to gain its first publicly traded ‘pure-play’ fusion company, and it’s determined to deliver energy from nuclear fusion with an innovative model that uses neither magnets nor lasers, the most common components of leading fusion experiments.
Instead, the model being piloted by the fusion-exclusive startup General Fusion uses mechanical pistons to contain plasma within a liquid lithium shell. Interesting Engineering reports that the technology has been described as a “practical, mechanical approach to fusion, emphasizing its ability to bypass the material degradation issues that plague other designs.”
But the most groundbreaking thing about General Fusion isn’t its technology – it’s its soon-to-be distinction as a publicly traded firm that focuses on nuclear fusion alone. This comes as the result of a “definitive business combination agreement” between General Fusion and Spring Valley Acquisition Corp, and shows a stunning confidence in the commercial potential of nuclear fusion. The investors are signalling a huge shift in the fusion field by putting all their eggs into this particular basket.
The upcoming General Fusion IPO underscores just how radically the field of nuclear fusion research has changed over the last few years. For decades, nuclear fusion was strictly the purview of massive governmental coalitions, the only entities capable of supplying the kind of cash and resources necessary to conduct such a massive and costly experiment. Now, the market is filling up with smaller and more agile startups as the race for fusion becomes increasingly privatised, making it more diverse and agile. And the breakthroughs are already stacking up.
Just a decade ago, nuclear fusion seemed like a pipe dream, often touted as an elusive and futuristic ‘silver bullet’ solution for limitless clean energy. The dream was so lofty and grandiose that only the most deep-pocketed governments were able to experiment with essentially recreating the systems that power our own sun here on Earth.
For years, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) led the pack and maintains its distinction as the biggest fusion experiment in the world – and maybe even “the grandest scientific experiment in the world.” The massive facility, located in the south of France, is funded and operated by seven member parties: China, the European Union (EU), India, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States. But due to the scale and the bureaucratic nature of the proverbial beast, ITER is still years away from achieving first plasma well over a decade and an estimated €22 billion after breaking ground.
ITER is still relevant, but it’s no longer the singular shining star of the field of research. Various other projects are on track to beat ITER to its goals, and for much, much less money. ITER’s backers say that this is a sign of the project’s success, and that its achievements and profile have inspired the groundswell of private investors now flooding the field and working hard to make ITER obsolete.
A lot of that private attention and cash is coming from the tech sector, which is feeling a large and increasing sense of urgency as the AI boom requires ever-increasing amounts of energy to keep data centers running. Some of tech’s biggest players, including Bill Gates and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, are major proponents of nuclear fusion research as an answer to AI’s growing energy problem.
If you know how to build a fusion power plant, you can have unlimited energy anywhere and forever. It’s hard to overstate what a big deal that will be,” Gates wrote in an October essay. “The availability and affordability of electricity is a huge limiting factor for virtually every sector of the economy
ITER is still relevant, but it’s no longer the singular shining star of the field of research. Various other projects are on track to beat ITER to its goals, and for much, much less money. ITER’s backers say that this is a sign of the project’s success, and that its achievements and profile have inspired the groundswell of private investors now flooding the field and working hard to make ITER obsolete.
A lot of that private attention and cash is coming from the tech sector, which is feeling a large and increasing sense of urgency as the AI boom requires ever-increasing amounts of energy to keep data centers running. Some of tech’s biggest players, including Bill Gates and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, are major proponents of nuclear fusion research as an answer to AI’s growing energy problem.
If you know how to build a fusion power plant, you can have unlimited energy anywhere and forever. It’s hard to overstate what a big deal that will be,” Gates wrote in an October essay. “The availability and affordability of electricity is a huge limiting factor for virtually every sector of the economy today. Removing those limits could be as transformative as the invention of the steam engine before the Industrial Revolution.”
