General fusion It was announced on Tuesday that it successfully formed a highly heat -conditioned plasma needed for fusion within a prototype reactor. The milestone indicates the start of a 93 -week struggle to prove that the organization’s stamping approach for fusion power is a viable contender.
Reactor, called the lason machine 26 (lm26), is General fusionThe latest repetition in a wire of devices that has experienced different parts of its unique approach. The company submitted LM6 in just 16 months, and is expected to target “Breaken” at some point in 2026.
General Fusion is one of the oldest Fusion companies Still working. According to the pitch Bok, founded in 2002, it has raised $ 440 million to date. During this time, he has seen that rivals face the rise and fall, and like the fusion industry, it has failed to fulfill the breaking promises, which is made of one. 20 years ago.
In fusion power, there are two points that are called a reaction to the brakes. Most people think about it is called commercial brakes. Only when the fusion reaction produces more power than the use of full convenience, which can put electricity on the power plant grid. No one has reached this milestone yet.
The second is known as the scientific brakes. In this case, the reaction of the fusion needs to be at least more powerful as it was directly fueled. Scientific brakes only appear within the limits of the experimental system, ignoring the rest. Nevertheless, this is an important milestone for any fusion attempt. So far, only the US Department of Energy’s National Ignition Facility That has reached.
General Fusion’s approach to fusion power is significantly different from other startups. Magnetized target Fusion (MTF) is called, it is similar to some prisoner prisoner, in which the national ignition is used. Late 2022 To prove that the reaction of the fusion can create excessive power to start them.
But where the national ignition facility uses lasers to compress the fuel pellet, General Fusion’s MTF reactor design relies on steam -driven pistons. Inside the chamber, the derivative is zipped with a slight electricity to produce the fuel magnetic field, which helps keep the plasma present. Then the piston operates on the plasma, moving the liquid lithium wall inward, compressing it.
As fuel is compressed, its temperature increases as long as it does not give birth to fusion reaction. The reaction then heats the liquid lithium, which the company plans to rotate through a heat exchanger to make steam and rotate the generator.
MTF came forward In the 1970s From the US Navy Research Laboratory, where researchers were developing concepts of compact fusion reactors. These efforts did not produce fruit. General Fusion says the reason is that the piston that compressed the liquid liner was not particularly controlled, and that modern computers now provide a better opportunity for complex choreography.
Whatever LM26 works, General Fusion still has to do more. The device does not have a liquid lithium wall, instead of relying on the compressed solid lithium through the electromagnet. This limits the number of runs because the company can take it because it takes longer to reset the device. The company has Advance On a prototype of the liquid wall, to see how it lasts over time, but connecting everything will still be a memorable engineering challenge.
Switching to LM26 is an important step for a company that is now racing with newcomers as well as a power plant Deep pocket boxes And aggressive timelines.