Nuclear fusion research happening on the West Coast is moving fast — at 100 billionths of a second.
That's the speed of electromagnetically compressed energy pulses being sent through transmission lines, where it's coupled by two electrodes before hitting a small container of deuterium-tritium fuel. Once there, it causes a crucial fusion reaction, all according to developer Pacific Fusion.
It's the California company's solution to affordably scale the promising power source with reliable technology, delivering abundant, cleaner energy that can be commercialized. If successful, the payoff could be huge, according to the enterprise's founders.
"Fusion is what powers the stars, where hydrogen is squeezed into helium … Fusion could be the ideal power source — emitting no CO2, requiring far less materials and land than other power sources, and offering billions of years of nearly free, globally accessible fuel. The challenge is making affordable systems to use that fuel," founders Eric Lander, Will Regan, Keith LeChien, Carrie von Muench, and Leland Ellison wrote on the company website.
Nuclear fission already provides air-pollution-free power from 54 plants in 28 states. The locations account for just more than 18% of the country's electricity generation, per government statistics. While they release no heat-trapping gases, the plants produce long-lasting radioactive waste. Rare and well-publicized meltdowns are also possible.
Physicist Amory Lovins, co-founder of Colorado clean energy think tank RMI, told The Cool Down that fission nuclear plants are increasingly costly to develop. He said sun and wind projects are better choices for grid-level energy production.
Fusion is touted by proponents as a nuclear solution that addresses most of the concerns. Fusion combines atoms to make energy, while fission splits them. Both reactions happen by slamming two atoms together as part of an amazing process involving unimaginable speeds and temperatures, per a U.S. Department of Energy description.
Pacific's machine looks a little different than the typical doughnut-shaped tokamaks being developed by experts in southern France and elsewhere to safely contain fusion reactions. Pacific's contraption is made of rows of stacked tubes angled toward a dome-shaped chamber at the center, judging by a company-published rendering.
The Pacific approach uses "established science" and "proven engineering" vetted by experts in government labs. The team started the effort to bring the pulsed magnet fusion concept to market in 2023 after realizing its viability with low-cost materials and maintenance, according to a fact sheet.
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"Our fuel is vastly cheaper than fossil fuels, even accounting for consumables such as fuel containers," the founders wrote.
If safely scaled, the energy source could increase the country's share of power produced with little or no heat-trapping fumes, resulting in planetwide benefits. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that air pollution can leach into seawater, causing acidification that harms marine life, for example.
That's concerning because seafood feeds about 3 billion people worldwide. What's more, the industry provides an income for up to 12% of the world's population, all noted by the Nature Conservancy.
In the short term, you can help reduce pollution by switching to LED lights, which produce five times less planet-warming fumes than traditional bulbs. The easy upgrade can save you $600 per year when you replace 40 of them in your house.
Eventually, they may be illuminated with help from energy pulses and fusion reactions. The Pacific team has $900 million in funding from investors to power its work, with the goal of soon building a device that creates more energy than is needed to operate, according to the company.
"We have a clear path toward achieving these goals, and we're well on our way to completing our first major milestones," the founders wrote.
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