DOE $42 Million for Inertial Fusion Energy Hubs

The DOE funding $42 million to support three hubs to develop inertial fusion. The hubs will be led by researchers at Colorado State University, the University of Rochester, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Projects funded by the program—known as Inertial Fusion Energy Science and Technology Accelerated Research (IFE-STAR)—will bring together expertise and capabilities across DOE’s …

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Helicity Space Raises $5 Million to Make Nuclear Fusion Rockets

– Helicity Space got $5 million in seed round funding from several new investors including Airbus Ventures, TRE Ventures, Voyager Space Holdings, E2MC Space, Urania Ventures and Gaingels. There is no need to wait for terrestrial fusion power to begin using fusion propulsion in space. Pushing a spacecraft with short bursts of fusion can be …

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Pulsar Fusion Plans Orbital Fusion Tests by 2027

Pulsar Fusion will make a linear nuclear fusion rocket propulsion system. They will heat hydrogen plasma with microwaves to create fusion propulsion. They will perform laboratory tests next year and in 2025 and then have an orbital test within three years. Pulsar recently partnered with aerospace R&D company Princeton Satellite Systems (PSS) for a study …

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Laser Nuclear Fusion

The NT Times had a recent article discussing laser nuclear fusion. Nextbigfuture has spoken with all of the nuclear fusion companies listed in the NY Times article as they all attended the 2023 International Conference on Inertial Fusion Sciences and Applications conference. Nextbigftuure covered detailed National Ignition Facility presentations six weeks ago at the 2023 …

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US and UK Form Nuclear Fusion Strategic Partnership

The US Department of Energy (DOE) and the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) have made a new strategic partnership to accelerate the demonstration and commercialization of fusion energy. The partnership marks the UK’s first formal international fusion collaboration since the recent launch of the GBP650 million (USD799 million) Fusion Futures Programme. …

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Nuclear Fusion Superconducting Magnets Can Be Used for Space Radiation Protection

The D’Onghia magnetic shielding crew hat, or CREW HaT, is a system that uses electromagnetic coils to deflect cosmic radiation from astronauts. The system consists of: A ring of electrical coils positioned on arms roughly 5 meters from the spacecraft’s main body A Halbach Torus, a circular array of magnets that creates a stronger field …

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Sandia Z Machine-Like Pulse Nuclear Fusion Startup Has 25% of a Terawattt Driver

Nuclear fusion startup, Fuse, is trying to make a mass production version nuclear fusion system based upon the Sandia Z Machine. The Sandia Z-Machine is a pulsed-power facility and X-ray generator at Sandia National Laboratories. It’s the world’s most powerful electrical device and can create short pulses of electrical energy. The Z-Machine uses electricity to …

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World’s Largest Operating Nuclear Fusion Reactor

Japan’s JT-60SA tokamak nuclear fusion reactor has achieved first plasma which makes it the world’s largest operating nuclear fusion reactor. The JT-60SA uses magnetic fields from superconducting coils to contain a blazingly hot cloud of ionized gas, or plasma, within a doughnut-shaped vacuum vessel, in hope of coaxing hydrogen nuclei to fuse and release energy. …

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Five Aneutronic Fusion Companies

Over 43 startups companies are working on nuclear fusion and they have received over $6 billion in funding. This does not include the international and national Tokomak fusion programs. The IEEE Spectrum reviewed five of the nuclear fusion companies that are working on Aneutronic fusion. 1. TAE (TriAlpha Energy) is working towards Proton-Boron fusion. 2. …

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Aerographite Solar Sails for 2% of Lightspeed Just From Launch Near the Sun

Matloff and Joseph Meany conceptualize a large solar sail made of aerographite which would only use the Sun to power a long term interstellar mission. It is based on an inflatable, hollow-body sail. This is updating concepts that goes back at least to the 1980s. Matloff and Meany set up an aerographite-graphene variant using a …

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Helion Energy Partners With Nucor Steel for 500MW Nuclear Fusion Power Plant in 2030

Helion Energy, a nuclear fusion power company, and Nucor Corporation, the largest steel producer and recycler in North America, announced an agreement to develop a 500 MWe fusion power plant at a Nucor steel manufacturing facility in the United States. This collaboration is aimed at accelerating the future of clean energy in the industrial manufacturing …

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