For decades, government scientists have toiled away trying to make nuclear fusion work. Will commercial companies sprint to the finish?

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    1•7 months ago

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    Standing in front of a set of aluminum coils that look like an advanced engine for some yet-to-be-built starship, Kirtley makes the case for his project that he’s made to venture capital firms and wealthy private investors:

    That money came from investors like Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, who has shown an active interest in investing in nuclear fusion and fission as potential forms of clean energy for the future.

    The hot plasma gasses struggle to escape their magnetic confinement, and getting the hydrogen and helium to stick requires an enormous amount of heat and compression — more so than other kinds of fusion fuels.

    High-speed electronics, fiber optics and advanced, solid-state switches all make it possible to heat and compress the fusion fuel much more quickly than in the past — lessening the time it has to escape from its magnetic confines.

    Like Helion, Zap’s concept isn’t new — government researchers tried to make it work in the 1950s, but ran into trouble keeping the synthetic lightning bolt from breaking apart before fusion occurred.

    Helion’s last funding round raised enough money to complete both construction of its current machine and begin work on the full design of a power plant.

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