Commonwealth Fusion makes the physics case for its 400 MW reactor
10 hours ago
- #startup innovation
- #fusion energy
- #tokamak reactors
- ITER is the scientific community's plan for achieving fusion power, with hot plasmas expected by the mid-2030s, but solar panels are predicted to be much cheaper by then.
- Commonwealth Fusion is a startup with a faster timeline: SPARC, its ITER equivalent, is over 70% complete and plans to operate as soon as next year, and it has a site and customers for ARC, a power-generating follow-on.
- Commonwealth uses high-temperature superconductors to create an extremely powerful magnetic field, allowing for a smaller reactor and faster development.
- The basics of these plans are considered sound based on years of tokamak experience, but there are potential challenges in the details that require experimental reactors like SPARC.
- Commonwealth's scientists have released five peer-reviewed papers detailing ARC plans in the Journal of Plasma Physics, outlining current best models and what remains to be learned from SPARC.