Helion aims to have a working nuclear fusion reactor by 2028

Nuclear fusion, the process that powers the sun, has long been the elusive holy grail of clean energy.  While nations pour billions into massive projects like ITER, a private startup called Helion believes it has cracked the code and aims to deliver fusion power by 2028.  This ambitious goal is fuelled by a recent $425 million funding round, bringing Helion’s total funding to over $1 billion and its valuation to $5.4 billion.

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Nuclear fusion holds immense promise: carbon-free energy without the long-term radioactive waste associated with traditional nuclear fission.  However, achieving a sustained fusion reaction that produces more energy than it consumes has remained a significant hurdle.  ITER, a multinational project costing upwards of $22 billion, isn’t expected to come online until at least 2034, and even then, its success in achieving sustained fusion is not guaranteed.  The current record for a sustained fusion reaction is a mere 17 minutes and 43 seconds, achieved by the EAST reactor in China.

Helion’s approach differs significantly from traditional experimental reactors.  Instead of using magnetic or inertial confinement to compress plasma and generate heat for a steam turbine, Helion employs a direct energy conversion method.  Fuel, consisting of deuterium and helium-3, is injected into an hourglass-shaped reactor and heated into plasma.  Magnets then shape the plasma into a donut and accelerate the particles towards each other at speeds approaching 1 million mph.  The collision, further compressed by magnets, generates the extreme temperatures (100 million degrees Celsius) needed for fusion.

Crucially, Helion’s design bypasses the steam turbine.  As the plasma expands, it interacts with the magnetic field, inducing a current that is directly captured as electricity. This simplified system promises greater efficiency.  However, Helion’s success thus far has been limited to small-scale fusion reactions.  The company faces significant engineering challenges in scaling up the process to achieve the high pulse rates and power levels necessary for commercial viability.

While Helion’s technology is promising, the history of fusion research is littered with unfulfilled promises.  Controlling and harnessing the immense energy released during fusion remains a formidable challenge.  Helion believes its simplified system offers a pathway to success, but experimental and commercial validation are still pending.  The company’s seventh-generation reactor, Polaris, is reportedly “in operation,” but Helion has yet to release any results.  The world waits to see if Helion can deliver on its bold vision.