Amazon founder Bezos (Jeff Bezos ) invested in core fusion is about to come true. General Fusion, a Canadian nuclear fusion technology developer, has cooperated with the UK Atomic Energy Administration (UKAEA) to decide to build a nuclear fusion demonstration plant at the UKAEA Coulham Nuclear Fusion Science Center. Construction is expected to start next year and be completed in 2025.
This demonstration factory will be the crystallization of General Fusion's research over the past decade and an important step towards commercialization. Like all nuclear fusion research companies, General Fusion aims to convert nuclear fusion technology into commercially viable power plants, providing the world with a huge and environmentally friendly way of generating electricity like a star.
Among them, General Fusion has been invested by Bezos and Tobias Lütke, founder of the multinational e-commerce company Shopify. The nuclear fusion technology adopted by the company is different from the tokamak of the European Joint Ring Reactor (JET) and the International Thermal Nuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor (ITER), but Magnetized target fusion (MTF), hoping to achieve smaller and more energy nuclear fusion.
General Fusion Use a sphere with three meters in diameter filled with liquid melted lithium lead metal to form a vertical cavity in the middle through rotating liquid. During each pulse, magnetically-confined plasma is injected into the cavity. The impact of the piston around the sphere can generate pressure waves to the center of the sphere, and the plasma is compressed and heated until a nuclear fusion reaction occurs. Then, heat is used to push the steam generator to generate electricity. After the steam is recovered, the piston can be cycled to maintain the operation.
After the future factory is completed, General Fusion will sign a long-term lease with UKAEA, which will also benefit from Coulham’s “nuclear fusion supply chain settlement”. General Fusion CEO Christofer Mowry said that after Coulham’s settlement, General Fusion’s market influence will expand from North America to Europe, expanding its team’s network of cooperation with governments, research institutions and industries.
This factory will not be used for power generation, but its size is not small, about 70% of that of a general reactor. No commercial details have been disclosed yet. It is said that it will cost US$400 million and is expected to start construction in 2022, with the goal of putting it into operation in 2025.
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