Nuclear fusion start-ups will receive a US$46mln boost from the US Department of Energy in a bid to build a pilot plant capable of creating power through the process within a decade.
Eight companies which are developing plants will receive the funding over the next 18 months, in the hope a functioning pilot fusion plant can be built in the next five to ten years.
“The Biden administration obviously sees enormous potential in fusion,” US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm said.
“[We are] committed to partnering with innovative researchers and companies across the country to take fusion energy past the lab and toward the grid.”
Eight companies across seven states will receive funding:
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
- Focused Energy Inc (Austin, Texas)
- Princeton Stellarators Inc (Branchburg, New Jersey)
- Realta Fusion Inc (Madison, Wisconsin)
- Tokamak Energy Inc (Bruceton Mills, West Virginia)
- Type One Energy Group (Madison, Wisconsin)
- Xcimer Energy Inc (Redwood City, California)
- Zap Energy Inc (Everett, Washington)
Nuclear fusion, which is how the Sun produces energy, sees light atoms bonded together to create heavier particles in a process that can create more power than is put into reactors.
Unlike today’s fission reactors which split atoms, fusion does not leave behind radioactive waste, though the process does involve intense heat and pressure, making it difficult to pull off.
Scientists at California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory successfully achieved fusion ignition, where the reaction creates a net energy gain, for the first time in December.
“This showed that fusion is a possible source of clean energy for humanity,” the Department of Energy explained.
“Fusion science has reached a level of maturity to support the premise of that vision to accelerate efforts in the engineering development of a fusion pilot plant.”