German startup Marvel Fusion and Colorado State University have broken ground on a $150 million laser facility to commercialize fusion energy.
The facility, called ATLAS, will use three ultra-high intensity lasers to fire 7 petawatts of power—more than 5,000 times the U.S.'s power-generating capacity—at a target about the width of a human hair.
The explosion will continue about 100 quadrillionths of a second. However, it is will generate enough heat and pressure to fuse atoms together and trigger the same reaction that powers the sun and stars.
Scientists have been experimenting with lasers to trigger fusion reactions for decades. A major breakthrough came in 2022 when the US Govt National Ignition Facility (NIF) successful reached a first in the industry: a Net energy gain from a fusion reaction.
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Net energy gain essentially means that more energy was produced in the reaction than was put into the reaction. The feat raised hopes that nuclear fusion's promise of abundant, clean and unlimited energy might not be too far away.
However, there is a big difference between achieving a net energy gain and building a commercial fusion power plant that continuously produces clean energy. To do this you would have to generate these fusion bursts multiple times per second.
But that's exactly what Marvel Fusion has in mind.
Commercial fusion reactors
ATLAS, located on the university's Fort Collins campus, will aim to repeat the laser bursts 10 times per second. That will be enough to produce an ongoing fusion reaction and hopefully a stable supply of clean energy.
The facility will be similar to the NIF but will use state-of-the-art technology to improve the power and efficiency of the laser while reducing costs.
Colorado State University will develop one of the lasers. Marvel will build the other two to prove its core technology. The partners' goal is to complete the laser system in 2026.
“This groundbreaking step (one feels a word missing) marks an exciting new chapter in the partnership between Marvel Fusion and Colorado State University as we advance construction of a facility that will advance the future of fusion energy,” he said Heike Freund, chief operating officer at Marvel Fusion.
While Marvel Fusion has established a subsidiary in Colorado to support this collaboration, the company's headquarters remains in Munich, Germany.
When asked why he chose the USA, Marvel's CEO replied Maurice von der Linden previously told the Financial Times that it was “the quickest and most capital efficient way for us to proceed with building this facility.” There is simply more money and interest in this type of technology across the pond, he said.
Still, he doesn't necessarily intend to build a full-fledged commercial facility in the United States. “It could very well be, maybe hopefully, in Europe,” he said.
Marvel recently secured €62.8 million in a Series B financing round, bringing the total raised to date to €100 million.
In addition to fusion energy, ATLAS will also support research in medicine, semiconductors and X-ray imaging. For example, lasers could be used to deliver energy to a very localized region to treat tumors.
Both Colorado State University and Marvel will fund construction of the new facility. The U.S. government has also committed $28 million to the project.
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