fusion

A revolution is underway in the nuclear energy sector. For the first time in decades, the field is brimming with urgency, ambition, and capital. Buoyed by growing energy demands, geopolitical recalibration, and climate pressures, nuclear power is undergoing a renaissance, one that will be driven not just by next-generation reactor designs, but by the materials […]

Type One Energy announced on May 27 that it had successfully completed the first formal design review of Infinity Two, which is based on the world’s only implementable, peer-reviewed physics basis for a fusion power plant recently published by the prestigious Journal of Plasma Physics. The Infinity Two design is progressing in support of a […]

The U.S. stands at a critical juncture. We’re experiencing electric load growth for the first time in decades, as fierce global competition reshapes the energy landscape. Nuclear power, both the resurgence of fission and the promise of fusion, could secure our energy future and position the U.S. as the global leader in energy technology for […]

Government officials in Germany are supporting development of a nuclear fusion pilot plant. Officials have said they want nuclear fusion to be a priority of the country’s energy agenda, barely two years after the country decommissioned its last three operating nuclear power plants in April 2023 at the direction of then-chancellor Angela Merkel.

The pursuit of energy from fusion technology has taken another step forward, with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) entering into a cooperative agreement with Type One Energy to jointly develop a fusion power plant project in TVA’s territory. The companies announced plans to collaborate on a 350-MWe Infinity Two power plant that use Type One’s […]

Focused Energy and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California have announced the signing of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to develop a model simulating the behavior of low-density foams wetted with liquid deuterium and tritium during implosion. The agreement supports the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s INFUSE project. Focused, based in the San […]

Virginia’s governor and other officials on Dec. 17 said the state has a plan for the world’s first nuclear fusion power plant. Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) on Tuesday announced it will build a 400-MW fusion facility on a 100-acre site at the James River Industrial Park in Chesterfield County. Massachusetts-based CFS, founded in 2018, and […]

Fusion energy is a promising form of power generation that aims to harness the same process that powers the sun and stars. Fusion involves combining two light atomic nuclei to form a heavier nucleus, releasing a large amount of energy in the process. This is the opposite of nuclear fission, which splits heavy atoms apart. […]

A leading nuclear science and technology group in Canada, along with the investment arm of one of the country’s top banks, said they together would invest about CA$20 million ($14.6 million) to support development of commercial fusion energy. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and BDC Capital, part of the Business Development Bank of Canada, on August 8 […]

A global professional services and project management company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, announced it has been chose to develop the pre-concept design for a nuclear fusion pilot plant (FPP). The pilot, announced by Canada-based Canada-based AtkinsRéalis on July 10 as part of Type One Energy’s FusionDirect program, will be a commercial-scale FPP. It will use […]

Enhancements will enable research into the physics of advanced fusion reactors and accelerate the drive to commercial fusion energy. The DIII-D National Fusion Facility has completed a series of important enhancements, providing researchers with several first-of-a-kind tools for controlling and understanding the function of fusion plasmas. These upgrades will further strengthen DIII-D’s standing as one […]

Longview Fusion Energy, a firm leveraging the recent fusion breakthrough at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), has secured a contract with engineering, procurement, and construction specialist Fluor to design what could become the world’s first commercial laser fusion power plant. Longview announced the contract on March 8, noting its historic relevance for laser fusion energy. […]

A major U.S. utility is part of a fusion energy project that would be located at the site of one of the company’s retired coal-fired power plants. Type One Energy Group on Feb. 21 announced plans to build Infinity One, a stellarator fusion prototype machine, at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) closed Bull Run Fossil […]

POWER magazine’s website gets millions of pageviews every year. Looking over the stats from 2023, the following five articles were the most-viewed by our audience, which includes many power industry professionals. Were you among the hundreds of thousands of readers of these stories? 5. Westinghouse Secures First Customer for eVinci Nuclear Microreactor (Nov. 27, 2023) […]

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said the U.S. is ready to work with other governments on research and development of nuclear fusion, as part of efforts to produce more carbon-free energy and combat climate change. Kerry made the announcement Dec. 5 at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Fusion has long been […]

Nucor Corp., a manufacturer of steel and steel products, and Helion, a fusion energy company, are collaborating to develop a 500-MW fusion power plant to supply baseload electricity to a steelmaking facility. The companies are working together to set a firm timeline, saying they are “committed to beginning operations as soon as possible with a […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the first round of awardees of the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program. The program is the latest in a series of efforts designed to align public and private sectors toward fusion commercialization. “The Biden administration obviously sees enormous potential in fusion—harnessing the power of the sun and the stars […]

Software giant Microsoft on May 10 announced it has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with nuclear fusion startup Helion Energy to buy electricity from Helion as soon as 2028. Andrew Holland, CEO of the Fusion Industry Association, said Microsoft’s deal is the first time a fusion company has signed a deal to sell electricity. […]

Over the last three years, electricity generation from fusion has moved from the realm of science fiction to the brink of serious development. A lot has happened, but challenges remain before fusion arrives on

Engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) giant Fluor Corp. will serve as an engineering and construction partner to design and plan laser fusion power plants developed by Longview Fusion Energy Systems—a company leveraging the recent fusion breakthrough at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Fluor on April 18 announced it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with […]

A California-based group said it has completed the first-ever hydrogen-boron fusion experiments to produce a sustainable fuel for utility-scale fusion power. TAE Technologies on Feb. 28, in a peer-reviewed paper published by the scientific journal Nature Communications, said its research supports the path to providing electricity from nuclear reactors fueled with hydrogen-boron, also known as […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced on Dec. 13 “the achievement of fusion ignition.” The milestone is a major scientific breakthrough, decades in the making. Fusion, of course, is the process by

Public-private partnership funded by U.S. Department of Energy to advance capabilities using machine learning San Diego, Jan. 20 – General Atomics (GA) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have been awarded funding to advance power and particle exhaust capabilities in commercial-scale fusion energy pilot plants (FPPs) using machine learning. A public-private partnership funded by the […]

A prototype fusion power plant designed by a UK-based architectural and design firm has been approved by local regulators. The South Oxfordshire District Council’s planning committee on Jan. 11 gave the go-ahead to a project led by renowned architect Amanda Levete. Levete’s AL_A group is expected to build the prototype, developed by Canada’s General Fusion, […]

Tokamak Energy has signed an agreement with leading Japanese and United States companies to supply specialist high temperature superconducting (HTS) tape for its new advanced prototype fusion device, ST80-HTS. Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan and SuperPower Inc, New York, USA of Furukawa Electric Group, are expected to deliver more than several hundred kilometres of […]

The announcement that scientists at a California laboratory achieved a net energy gain from a fusion reaction sparked plenty of debate about what it means for the power generation industry. The breakthrough at the world’s largest nuclear-fusion site—the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore lab—which occurred on Dec. 5 and was publicly announced […]

The first nuclear fusion reaction to result in a net energy gain has been successfully completed by scientists at a laboratory in California, a milestone in the decades-long pursuit of a way to produce unlimited energy with no carbon emissions or nuclear waste. U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm made the official announcement Dec. 13 during […]

U.S. scientists reportedly have carried out the first nuclear fusion experiment to achieve a net energy gain. The Department of Energy (DOE) is expected to announce the breakthrough on Dec. 13, according to news reports late Sunday. The nuclear power industry has pursued fusion technology for decades, with a renewed emphasis for those efforts in […]

CHALK RIVER, Ontario, Nov. 10, 2022 — Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), Canada’s premier nuclear science and technology organization, and General Fusion, an international leader in the development of commercial fusion energy, are pleased to announce that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to pursue a series of joint projects to accelerate the deployment […]

Innovative concept leverages decades of expertise in fusion research and development San Diego, Oct. 20, 2022 – Today, General Atomics (GA) announced a new concept for a fusion pilot plant (FPP) to deliver clean, safe, and economically viable fusion energy. GA’s FPP concept utilizes a steady-state, compact advanced tokamak design approach, where the fusion plasma […]