USA Grants $46MM for Commercial Fusion Development

In a key step toward a pioneering development, the USA government announced Wednesday $46 million in funding for companies seeking to bring about fusion energy plants.

This comes five months after the country announced a breakthrough in nuclear fusion research decades in the making. The government’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) said December 13 an experiment it had conducted earlier that month achieved ignition, “meaning it produced more energy from fusion than the laser energy used to drive it”.

Fusion, the process by which lighter nuclei form a heavier nucleus, releases an amount of energy like that generated in the Sun. The lab’s National Ignition Facility has been aiming to produce a self-sustaining nuclear fusion in which the mass lost in the reaction could be converted into large amounts of energy.

The first-of-its-kind result “will provide invaluable insights into the prospects of clean fusion energy, which would be a game-changer for efforts to achieve President [Joe] Biden’s goal of a net-zero carbon economy”, the lab said.

The challenge now is how to mass-produce energy generated by fusion in a cost-effective way.

The funding is a step in that direction, helping realize a “pilot-scale demonstration of fusion within a decade”, the Department of Energy (DOE) said in a press release.

Eight local companies researching how to make power plants running on fusion energy have been awarded the grant: Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Focused Energy Inc., Princeton Stellarators Inc., Realta Fusion Inc., Tokamak Energy Inc., Type One Energy Group, Xcimer Energy Inc. and Zap Energy Inc.

“We have generated energy by drawing power from the sun above us. Fusion offers the potential to create the power of the sun right here on Earth”, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in the announcement. “The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to partnering with innovative researchers and companies across the country to take fusion energy past the lab and toward the grid”.

Before the successful experiment, the government already declared intention to achieve commercial fusion within 10 years. A White House announcement of the ambition March 15, 2022 noted other countries such as China and the United Kingdom have also been in the race.

“The U.S. government can help clear the path to commercialization by developing a risk-informed regulatory framework, addressing safety and security concerns, enabling technology exports through international regulatory harmonization and effective export controls, supporting essential supply chains, actively engaging the U.S. public, and providing education and training to build a diverse workforce”, the White House said.

While the initial funding covers only the first 18 months of research, further financial support may be provided depending on the progress of the companies and congressional appropriations with projects lasting up to five years.

“Within five to 10 years, the eight awardees will resolve scientific and technological challenges to create designs for a fusion pilot plant that will help bring fusion to both technical and commercial viability”, the DOE said.

Zoe Lofgre, a member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, assured support for the target, commenting in the announcement: “The recent progress and promise of fusion energy warrant our full support for all of the important fusion energy activities that Congress has enacted and the President has proposed for Fiscal Year 2024, and I will continue to do everything I can to meet that goal”.

The DOE said the selection process “looked at the companies’ plans to support DOE’s efforts in advancing President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, whose goal is that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain climate and energy investments flow to disadvantaged communities”.

The successful laser experiment December 5 was the culmination of the LLNL’s research since the 1950s. The lab credited its scientists for proposing the idea in the 1960s that lasers could be used to induce fusion.

Today’s nuclear power plants rely on fission, where the nuclei of heavy elements such as uranium split to create lighter elements.

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