Pacific Fusion has successfully tested a new pulser module prototype, a step that clears the way for construction of its demonstration fusion facility, which is scheduled to begin this summer.
The prototype delivered 440 gigawatts of peak power in an 80-nanosecond burst, results that triggered another funding tranche from the company’s Series A round, which totals more than $1 billion.
Pacific Fusion did not disclose the size of the latest funding release. The company ranks among the most heavily funded startups in the fusion industry.
Milestone-based funding
Pacific Fusion said its financing structure releases capital as technical goals are met.
The approach is more common in biotechnology startups and reduces the need for frequent fundraising.
“The funding arrangement has allowed the company ‘to keep our heads down,'” Chief Technology Officer Keith LeChien told TechCrunch.
“It means that we can lean into the future without spending 20% to 50% time constantly looking for the next piece of capital,” LeChien said.
How the system works
Pacific Fusion is developing an inertial confinement fusion system.
Its planned reactor will use 156 pulser modules to send powerful bursts of electricity into a small fuel target inside a fusion chamber.
The pulse creates a magnetic field around the eraser-sized fuel pellet. The pellet is compressed until atoms fuse and release energy.
Unlike the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which uses large lasers, Pacific Fusion relies on electrical switches and capacitors.
Those components are designed to produce precisely timed pulses lasting about 100 nanoseconds.
Timing is critical. If the capacitors do not release energy at exactly the right moment, the fuel pellet will not be compressed enough to trigger fusion.
Scaling up
The recently tested prototype is roughly one-third the size of a full pulser module.
It contains:
- Nine stages
- 90 bricks
- Two capacitors and one switch inside each brick
A full-size module will include:
- 32 circular stages
- 10 bricks around each stage
The demonstration system itself will use 156 full-size pulser modules.
LeChien said the latest test met the requirements needed to move to the next phase.
“It meets all our requirements for scaling up to build our big demonstration system,” he said.
Construction starts this summer
Pacific Fusion is not waiting for tests on a full-scale module before beginning work on the demonstration facility.
“The shovels go in the ground for that facility this summer,” LeChien said.
The company hopes the facility will generate more energy than it consumes, something no fusion facility has yet achieved.
Chasing the next milestone
Inertial confinement remains the only method that has produced a controlled fusion reaction yielding more energy than was needed to initiate it, a benchmark known as scientific breakeven.
So far, only experiments at the National Ignition Facility have repeatedly reached that milestone.
Pacific Fusion aims to move beyond scientific breakeven and achieve facility breakeven, where the demonstration device would generate enough energy to power the entire facility.
“Any fusion approach, regardless of your specific technology, has to traverse through that,” LeChien said.
“It’s the next tectonic milestone in fusion.”
Clarification
Pacific Fusion updated details on June 2, saying the demonstration facility will not include a steam turbine and therefore will not qualify as a power plant.
TL;DR:
Pacific Fusion tested a prototype pulser module that produced 440 gigawatts in an 80-nanosecond burst, unlocking more funding from its $1 billion-plus Series A round. The company plans to start building its demonstration facility this summer.
AI summary:
- Pacific Fusion tested a prototype delivering 440 gigawatts in 80 nanoseconds.
- The results unlocked another tranche of its $1 billion-plus Series A funding.
- Construction of the demonstration facility is scheduled to begin this summer.
- The system will eventually use 156 full-size pulser modules.
- Pacific Fusion aims to achieve facility breakeven after scientific breakeven.
