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Japan inaugurates world’s biggest experimental operating nuclear fusion reactor

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Andrew Paul’s December 4, 2023 article for Popular Science attempts to give readers a sense of the scale and this is one of those times when words are better than pictures, Note: Links have been removed,

Japan and the European Union have officially inaugurated testing at the world’s largest experimental nuclear fusion plant. Located roughly 85 miles north of Tokyo, the six-story, JT-60SA “tokamak” facility heats plasma to 200 million degrees Celsius (around 360 million Fahrenheit) within its circular, magnetically insulated reactor. Although JT-60SA first powered up during a test run back in October [2023], the partner governments’ December 1 announcement marks the official start of operations at the world’s biggest fusion center, reaffirming a “long-standing cooperation in the field of fusion energy.”

The tokamak—an acronym of the Russian-language designation of “toroidal chamber with magnetic coils”—has led researchers’ push towards achieving the “Holy Grail” of sustainable green energy production for decades. …

Speaking at the inauguration event, EU energy commissioner Kadri Simson referred to the JT-60SA as “the most advanced tokamak in the world,” representing “a milestone for fusion history.”

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But even if such a revolutionary milestone is crossed, it likely won’t be at JT-60SA. Along with its still-in-construction sibling, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in Europe, the projects are intended solely to demonstrate scalable fusion’s feasibility. Current hopes estimate ITER’s operational start for sometime in 2025, although the undertaking has been fraught with financial, logistical, and construction issues since its groundbreaking back in 2011.

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See what I mean about a picture not really conveying the scale,

Until ITER turns on, Japan’s JT-60SA fusion reactor will be the largest in the world.National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology

Dennis Normile’s October 31, 2023 article for Science magazine describes the facility’s (Japan’s JT-60SA fusion reactor) test run and future implications for the EU’s ITER project,

The long trek toward practical fusion energy passed a milestone last week when the world’s newest and largest fusion reactor fired up. Japan’s JT-60SA uses magnetic fields from superconducting coils to contain a blazingly hot cloud of ionized gas, or plasma, within a doughnut-shaped vacuum vessel, in hope of coaxing hydrogen nuclei to fuse and release energy. The four-story-high machine is designed to hold a plasma heated to 200 million degrees Celsius for about 100 seconds, far longer than previous large tokamaks.

Last week’s achievement “proves to the world that the machine fulfills its basic function,” says Sam Davis, a project manager at Fusion for Energy, an EU organization working with Japan’s National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST) on JT-60SA and related programs. It will take another 2 years before JT-60SA produces the long-lasting plasmas needed for meaningful physics experiments, says Hiroshi Shirai, leader of the project for QST.

JT-60SA will also help ITER, the mammoth international fusion reactor under construction in France that’s intended to demonstrate how fusion can generate more energy than goes into producing it. ITER will rely on technologies and operating know-how that JT-60SA will test.

Japan got to host JT-60SA and two other small fusion research facilities as a consolation prize for agreeing to let ITER go to France. …

As Normile notes, the ITER project has had a long and rocky road so far.

The Canadians

As it turns out, there’s a company in British Columbia, Canada that is also on the road to fusion energy. Not so imaginatively, it’s called General Fusion but it has a different approach to developing this ‘clean energy’. (See my October 28, 2022 posting, “Overview of fusion energy scene,” which includes information about the international scene and some of the approaches, including General Fusion’s, to developing the technology and my October 11, 2023 posting offers an update to the General Fusion situation.) Since my October 2023 posting, there have been a few developments at General Fusion.

This December 4, 2023 General Fusion news release celebrates a new infusion of cash from the Canadian government and take special note of the first item in the ‘Quick Facts’ of the advantage this technology offers,

Today [December 4, 2023], General Fusion announced that Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) has awarded CA$5 million to support research and development to advance the company’s Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) demonstration at its Richmond headquarters. Called LM26, this ground-breaking machine will progress major technical milestones required to commercialize zero-carbon fusion power by the early to mid-2030s. The funds are an addition to the existing contribution agreement with SIF, to support the development of General Fusion’s transformational technology.

Fusion energy is the ultimate clean energy solution. It is what powers the sun and stars. It’s the process by which two light nuclei merge to form a heavier one, emitting a massive amount of energy. By 2100, the production and export of the Canadian industry’s fusion energy technology could provide up to $1.26 trillion in economic benefits to Canada. Additionally, fusion could completely offset 600 MT CO2-e emissions, the equivalent of over 160 coal-fired power plants for a single year. When commercialized, a single General Fusion power plant will be designed to provide zero-carbon power to approximately 150,000 Canadian homes, with the ability to be placed close to energy demand at a cost competitive with other energy sources such as coal and natural gas.1

Quotes:

“For more than 20 years, General Fusion has advanced its uniquely practical Magnetized Target Fusion technology and IP at its Canadian headquarters. LM26 will significantly de-risk our commercialization program and puts us on track to bring our game-changing, zero-emissions energy solution to Canada, and the world, in the next decade,” said Greg Twinney, CEO, General Fusion.

“Fusion technology has the potential to completely revolutionize the energy sector by giving us access to an affordable unlimited renewable power source. Since General Fusion is at the forefront of this technology, our decision to keep supporting the company will give us the tools we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reach our climate goals. Our government is proud to invest in this innovative project to drive the creation of hundreds of middle-class jobs and position Canada as a world leader in fusion energy technology,” said The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.

“British Columbia has a thriving innovation economy. In August, the B.C. Government announced CA$5 million in provincial support for General Fusion’s homegrown technology, and we’re pleased to see the Federal government has now provided funds to support General Fusion. These investments will help General Fusion as they continue to develop their core technology right here in B.C.,” said Brenda Bailey, B.C. Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation.

Quick Facts:

*Magnetized Target Fusion uniquely sidesteps challenges to commercialization that other technologies face. The game-changer is a proprietary liquid metal liner in the commercial fusion machine that is mechanically compressed by high-powered pistons. This enables fusion conditions to be created in short pulses rather than creating a sustained reaction. General Fusion’s design does not require large superconducting magnets or an expensive array of lasers.

*LM26 aims to achieve two of the most significant technical milestones required to commercialize fusion energy, targeting fusion conditions of over 100 million degrees Celsius by 2025, and progressing toward scientific breakeven equivalent by 2026.

*LM26’s plasmas will be approximately 50 per cent scale of a commercial fusion machine. It aims to achieve deuterium-tritium breakeven equivalent using deuterium fuel.

*The Canadian government is investing an additional CA$5 million for a total of CA$54.3 million to support the development of General Fusion’s energy technology through the Strategic Innovation Fund program.

*As a result of the government’s ongoing support, General Fusion has advanced its technology, building more than 24 plasma prototypes, filing over 170 patents, and conducting more than 200,000 experiments at its Canadian labs.

This January 11, 2024 General Fusion news release highlights some of the company’s latest research,

General Fusion has published new, peer-reviewed scientific results that validate the company has achieved the smooth, rapid, and symmetric compression of a liquid cavity that is key to the design of a commercial Magnetized Target Fusion power plant. The results, published in one of the foremost scientific journals in fusion, Fusion Engineering and Design [open access paper], validate the performance of General Fusion’s proprietary liquid compression technology for Magnetized Target Fusion and are scalable to a commercial machine.

General Fusion’s Magnetized Target Fusion technology uses mechanical compression of a plasma to achieve fusion conditions. High-speed drivers rapidly power a precisely shaped, symmetrical collapse of a liquid metal cavity that envelopes the plasma. In three years, General Fusion commissioned a prototype of its liquid compression system and completed over 1,000 shots, validating the compression technology. In addition, this scale model of General Fusion’s commercial compression system verified the company’s open-source computational fluid dynamics simulation. The paper confirms General Fusion’s concept for the compression system of a commercial machine.

“General Fusion has proven success scaling individual technologies, creating the pathway to integrate, deploy, and commercialize practical fusion energy,” said Greg Twinney, CEO, General Fusion. “The publication of these results demonstrates General Fusion has the science and engineering capabilities to progress the design of our proprietary liquid compression system to commercialization.”

General Fusion’s approach to compressing plasma to create fusion energy is unique. Its Magnetized Target Fusion technology is designed to address the barriers to commercialization that other fusion technologies still face. The game-changer is the proprietary liquid metal liner in the fusion vessel that is mechanically compressed by high-powered pistons. This allows General Fusion to create fusion conditions in short pulses, rather than creating a sustained reaction, while protecting the machine’s vessel, extracting heat, and re-breeding fuel.

Today [January 11, 2024] at its Canadian labs, General Fusion is building a ground-breaking Magnetized Target Fusion demonstration called Lawson Machine 26 (LM26). Designed to reach fusion conditions of over 100 million degrees Celsius by 2025 and progress towards scientific breakeven equivalent by 2026, LM26 fast-tracks General Fusion’s technical progress to provide commercial fusion energy to the grid by the early to mid-2030s.

Exciting times for us all and I wish good luck to all of the clean energy efforts wherever they are being pursued.

General Fusion: update to October 10, 2023

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It seems that Canadian nuclear energy company General Fusion has finally moved from Burnaby to Richmond (both are part of the Metro Vancouver Region). The move first announced in 2021 (see my November 3, 2021 posting for the news and a description of fusion energy; Note: fission is a different form of nuclear energy, fusion is considered clean/green).

I found confirmation of the move in an August 9, 2023 article by Kenneth Chan for the dailyhive.com

If all goes as planned, a major hurdle in fusion-based, zero-emission clean energy innovation could be produced on Sea Island in Richmond in just three years from now.

BC-based General Fusion announced today it has plans to build a new magnetized target fusion (MTF) machine at the company’s global headquarters at 6020-6082 Russ Baker Way [emphasis mine] near the South Terminal of Vancouver International Airport (YVR). [Note: YVR is located in Richmond, BC]

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Chan goes on to note (from his August 9, 2023 article), Note: A link has been removed,

This machine will be designed to achieve fusion conditions of over 100,000,000°C by 2025, with “scientific breakeven” conditions by 2026. This will “fast-track” the company’s technical progress.

More specifically, this further proof-of-concept will show General Fusion’s ability to “symmetrically compress magnetized plasmas in a repeatable manner and achieve fusion conditions at scale.”

General Fusion’s technology is designed to be lower cost by avoiding other approaches that require expensive superconducting magnets or high-powered lasers.

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The YVR machine is intended to support further work and investment and reduce the risk of General Fusion’s commercial-scale demonstration test plan in Culham Campus of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) — located just outside of Oxford, west of London. The UK plant has effectively been delayed, [emphasis mine] with the goal now to provide electricity to the grid with commercial fusion energy by the early to mid-2030s.

“Our updated three-year Fusion Demonstration Program puts us on the best path forward to commercialize our technology by the 2030s,” said Greg Twinney, CEO of General Fusion, in a statement. “We’re harnessing our team’s existing strengths right here in Canada and delivering high-value, industry-leading technical milestones in the near term.”

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Canada, always a colony

I wonder what happened to the UKAEA deal. In my October 28, 2022 posting (Overview of fusion energy scene) General Fusion was downright effusive in its enthusiasm about the joint path to commercialization with a demonstration machine to be built in the UK. Scroll down to my ‘Fusion energy explanation (2)’ subhead for more details.

It now looks as if the first demonstration will be build and tested in Canada, from an August 9, 2023 General Fusion news release,

General Fusion announced a new Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) machine that will fast-track the company’s technical progress. To be built at the company’s new Richmond headquarters, this ground-breaking machine is designed to achieve fusion conditions of over 100 million degrees Celsius by 2025, [emphasis mine] and progress toward scientific breakeven by 2026. In addition, the company completed the first close of its Series F raise for a combined $25 million USD (approximately $33.5 million CAD) of funding. The round was anchored by existing investors, BDC Capital and GIC. It also included new grant funding from the Government of British Columbia, which builds upon the Canadian government’s ongoing support through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF). 

This machine represents a significant new pillar to accelerate and de-risk [emphasis mine] General Fusion’s Demonstration Program, designed to leverage the company’s recent technological advancements and provide electricity to the grid with commercial fusion energy by the early to mid-2030s.  

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Over the next two to three years, General Fusion will work closely with the UK Atomic Energy Authority [UKAEA] to validate the data gathered from [Lawson Machine 26] LM26 and incorporate it into the design of the company’s planned commercial scale demonstration in the UK.

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So, the machine is being ‘de-risked’ in Canada first, eh?

September 2023

There was an interesting UK addition to General Fusion’s board of directors according to a September 6, 2023 news release,

Today [September 6, 2023], General Fusion announced the appointment of Norman Harrison to its Board of Directors. Norman is a world-class executive in the energy sector, with 40 years of unique experience providing leadership to both the fusion energy and nuclear fission communities.

His experience includes serving as the CEO of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) from 2006 to 2010 [emphasis mine], when he oversaw the groundbreaking research being conducted by the Joint European Torus (JET), the world’s largest fusion experiment and the only one operating using deuterium-tritium fuel, as it pushed the frontiers of fusion science. Norman’s expertise will support General Fusion as the company completes its Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) demonstration, LM26 [scroll up to August 9, 2023 news release in the above for details] , at its Canadian headquarters. LM26 is targeting fusion conditions of 100 million degrees Celsius by 2025 and is charting a path to scientific breakeven equivalent by 2026. The results achieved by LM26 will be validated by the UKAEA and incorporated into the design of the company’s near-commercial machine, which is planned to be built at the UKAEA’s Culham Campus. 

Norman’s background also includes leading the construction and operations of large-scale power plants. As a result, his guidance will benefit General Fusion as it progresses to commercializing its MTF technology by the early to mid-2030s.

“I’ve been a part of the fusion energy industry for many years now. General Fusion’s unique technology stands out and has exciting promise to put fusion energy onto the electricity grid,” said Norman Harrison. “I am thrilled to join the General Fusion team and be a part of the company’s progress.”

“Norman’s wealth of expertise in advancing fusion technology and operating large electricity infrastructure provides us with meaningful insight into what is required to effectively bring Magnetized Target Fusion to the energy grid in a cost-effective, practical way,” said Greg Twinney, CEO, General Fusion. “We look forward to working with him as General Fusion transforms the commercial power industry with reliable fusion power.”

About General Fusion

General Fusion is pursuing a fast and practical approach to commercial fusion energy and is headquartered in Richmond, B.C. The company was established in 2002 and is funded by a global syndicate of leading energy venture capital firms, industry leaders and technology pioneers. …

So, after postponing plans to build a build a demonstration plant with UKAEA and deciding to build it in Canada where it can be ‘de-risked’ here first, General Fusion adds a former UKAEA CEO to their company board. This seems a little strategic to me.

October 2023

Here’s the latest from an October 10, 2023 news release,

Today [October 11, 2023], General Fusion and Kyoto Fusioneering announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to accelerate the commercialization of General Fusion’s proprietary Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) technology, aiming for grid integration in the early to mid-2030s. The companies will collaborate to advance critical systems for MTF commercialization, including the tritium fuel cycle, liquid metal balance of plant, and power conversion cycle.

Tritium, a hydrogen isotope and key fusion fuel, does not occur naturally and must be produced or “bred” in the fusion process. General Fusion’s game-changing commercial power plant design features a proprietary liquid metal wall that compresses plasma to fusion conditions, protects the fusion machine’s vessel components, and breeds tritium upon interacting with the fusion products. This design allows the machine to be self-sustaining, generating fuel for the life of the power plant while facilitating efficient energy extraction from the fusion reaction through a liquid metal loop to a heat exchanger.

Kyoto Fusioneering specializes in fusion power plant systems that complement the plasma confinement core, are applicable to various fusion confinement concepts, such as MTF, and are on the critical path for fusion commercialization. The complementary capabilities of both organizations will enable parallel development of key systems supporting MTF commercialization. Initial collaboration under this MOU will focus on liquid metal experimentation and fuel cycle system development at both the General Fusion and Kyoto Fusioneering facilities, such as establishment of balance of plant and power conversion test facilities, liquid metal loops, and vacuum systems.

Quotes:

“Currently, our new machine, LM26, is on-track to achieve fusion conditions by 2025, and progress towards scientific breakeven by 2026,” said Greg Twinney, CEO, General Fusion. “Harnessing the unique technological and engineering expertise of Kyoto Fusioneering will be instrumental as we translate LM26’s groundbreaking results into the world’s first Magnetized Target Fusion power plant.”

“We’re thrilled to join forces with General Fusion. Our combined expertise will accelerate the path to commercial fusion energy, a critical step toward a sustainable, decarbonized future,” said Satoshi Konishi, Co-founder and Chief Fusioneer, Kyoto Fusioneering.

Quick Facts:

Magnetized Target Fusion [prepare yourself for 1 min. 21 secs. of an enthusiastic Michel Laberge, company founder and chief science officer] uniquely sidesteps challenges to commercialization that other technologies face. The proprietary liquid metal liner in the commercial fusion machine is mechanically compressed by high-powered pistons. This enables fusion conditions to be created in short pulses rather than creating a sustained reaction. General Fusion’s design does not require large superconducting magnets or an expensive array of lasers.

General Fusion’s design will use deuterium-tritium fuel for its commercial power plant. Both are isotopes of hydrogen. Deuterium occurs naturally and can be derived from seawater. Tritium needs to be produced, which is why General Fusion’s unique and proprietary technology that breeds tritium as a byproduct of the fusion reaction is a game-changer.

Kyoto Fusioneering was spun out of Kyoto University. It is home to world-class R&D facilities, and its team has a combined total of approximately 800 years of experience [emphasis mine].

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About Kyoto Fusioneering

Kyoto Fusioneering, established in 2019 [emphasis mine], is a privately funded technology startup with facilities in Tokyo and Kyoto (Japan), Reading (UK), and Seattle (USA). The company specialises in developing advanced technologies for commercial fusion power plants, such as gyrotron systems, tritium fuel cycle technologies, and breeding blankets for tritium production and power generation. Working collaboratively with public and private fusion developers around the world, Kyoto Fusioneering’s mission is to make fusion energy the ultimate sustainable solution for humanity’s energy needs.

800 years of experience seems to be a bit of a stretch for a company established four years ago with 96 employees as of July 1, 2023 (see Kyoto Fusioneering’s Company Profile webpage) but hat’s off for the sheer gutsiness of it.

12th World Conference of Science Journalists in Medellín, Colombia from March 27-31, 2023

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I very rarely get a chance to feature science from Latin America and the Caribbean, largely due to my lack of Spanish, Portuguese, or Dutch language skills. So, you might say I’m desperate to find something, which explains, at least in part, why I’m posting about the 12th World Conference (WCSJ).

A March 29, 2023 WCSJ press release (also on EurekAlert but published March 28, 2023) describes the opening day of the 2023 conference,

The opening day [March 27, 2023] of the World Conference of Science Journalists (WCSJ) 2023 in Medellín, Colombia saw hundreds of journalists from 62 countries come together in the stunning setting of the city’s Jardin Botanico.

Over 500 attendees will gather over three days to discuss science journalism, to challenge ideas and to reinforce their professional networks and friendships. 

The day began with a keynote on biodiversity delivered by Brigitte Baptiste, a Colombian biologist and expert in biodiversity issues. And it closed with an opening ceremony and vibrant social event for attendees.

Both took place under open skies in the Jardin’s orquideorama, an open air meshwork of flower-tree structures surrounded by trees, butterflies and with a backdrop of birdsong. 

Two other plenaries focused on scientific advice and news from Amazonia. The morning’s parallel panels covered Latin American and international collaboration, with discussions from Latin American women researchers, reporting on science, health and the environment in the region and what the world can learn from Latin American and the Caribbean early warning alerts systems. The afternoon saw discussions on COVID-19, popular science writing and astronomy. 

The conference continues until Friday when there are scientific tours and excursions that provide the opportunity to visit local research teams and find out more about science in the region.

According to WWF, Colombia is the most biodiverse country per square kilometre in the world. It is also the country with the largest number of bird species — over 1,900  —  and the greatest number of butterfly species — over 3,600 or 20% butterfly species. 

Milica Momcilovic, President of the World Federation of Science Journalists said: “Independent journalism is the lifeblood of democracy and our focus at the Federation is, and will continue to be, supporting independent science journalism around the world. I have seen first hand how talented science journalists can change the world for the better and during this conference they will tell us these stories in person.”

Ximena Serrano Gil, Director of the Medellín conference said: “Colombia and Medellin are a biodiversity hotspot, an unrivalled laboratory for helping other nations adapt to climate change, a model for how to feed populations in rapidly changing tropical environments, and a cultural repository where thousands of years of indigenous peoples’ knowledge can make a lasting contribution to the wisdom of future generations.”

She continued: “The opportunity to share ideas and collaborate with others is invaluable and we must continue to create platforms that facilitate these interactions. I hope that other places in the global south will have the opportunity to host the WCSJ.” 

Over the past two decades, the World Federation of Science Journalists (WFSJ) has mounted the WCSJ every other year. The event has been held in cities across the globe, and the current edition in Medellín, Colombia, was postponed from 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each gathering lasts about a week and attracts hundreds of participants from the WFSJ membership, including some 10,000 science writers in 51 countries.

This conference has been put together with a specific focus on the global south and on amplifying new voices from science journalist communities.

The programme has something that interests me, a talk on brain organoids according to a March 17, 2023 WCSJ press release, Note: Links have been removed,

Food security, organoid intelligence, local tours and scientific excursions

Plenary: Challenges to food security in the face of global catastrophe risks

In times of crisis and global risks, very few issues have as many factors feeding into them as food security. The integrative measures envisaged by various global players link the actions that are needed to meet the challenges we face. These should be considered in terms of technology, economics and security to ensure the future of food security, but also how science validates the environmental the environmental impact and guarantees the viability of the processes. 

Jennifer Wiegel is the Sub Regional Manager for Central America and a scientist in the Food Environment and Consumer Behavior research area of the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT [International Center for Tropical Agriculture]. Her research includes work on agri-food systems, food markets and value chains for inclusion and sustainability and public procurement. She has a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master’s in Rural Sociology from the same University.

Juan Fernando Zuluaga is the National Territorial Coordinator for Antioquia. He has a  PhD in Social Sciences from the University of Antioquia and a Master in RuralEconomics from the Federal University of Ceará-Brazil. Juan is a specialist in finance from  the Latin American Autonomous University and Agricultural Engineer from the National University of Medellín.

Thomas Hartung, MD, PhD. Professor of environmental health sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Whiting School of Engineering and Professor for Pharmacology and Toxicology at University of Konstanz, Germany. He is leading the revolution in toxicology to move away from 50+ year old animal testing to organoid cultures and the use of artificial intelligence.

New keynote

Climate change: How to embroider the risks that put the stability of the most vulnerable at risk

Paola Andrea Arias Gómez is Professor of the Environmental School of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Antioquia. In 2021 she was El Espectador’s Person of the Year and received the Medellin Council’s Orchid Award for Scientific Merit.

Paola completed her undergraduate studies in Civil Engineering and a Master’s degree in Water Resources Development at the National University of Colombia, Medellin. She was Head of the Environmental School of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Antioquia and is now a member of the First Working Group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). She is also a member of the GEWEX Hydroclimatology Panel (GHP), the Amazon Regional Hydrogeomorphology Working Group (UNESCO) and the WCRP Science Plan Development Team (WCRP) Lighthouse Activities – My Climate Risk.

Parallel session:

In conversation: “Organoid intelligence”: the future of modern computing from human brain cells. [sic]

Biocomputing is a huge effort to compact computational power and increase its efficiency to overcome current technological limits. Researchers at Johns Hopkins delve into this technology that may one day produce computers that are faster, more efficient and more powerful than silicon-based computing and AI.

Thomas Hartung, MD, PhD. will present the team’s latest research and discuss its context, implications and what his hopes are for the field. 

Thomas Hartung is the Director of Centers for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT, http://caat.jhsph.edu) of both universities. CAAT hosts the secretariat of the Evidence-based Toxicology Collaboration (http://www.ebtox.org) and manages collaborative programs on Good Read-Across Practice, Good Cell Culture Practice, Green Toxicology, Developmental Neurotoxicity, Developmental Immunotoxicity, Microphysiological Systems and Refinement.

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I found another intriguing session (Story Corner: “Fusion Energy and Climate Change – The Conversation begins” by ITER) which was held on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 9:30 – 10:00 am during the coffee break. (For more about fusion energy, see my October 28, 2022 posting “Overview of fusion energy scene“.)

While it’s too late to sign up for the conference, you might find perusing the programme schedule provides some insight into issues being faced my science journalists outside the Canada/US bubble.

General Fusion moves headquarters to Vancouver Airport (sort of)

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Nuclear energy is not usually of much interest to me but there is a Canadian company doing some interesting work in that area. So, before getting to the news about the company’s move, here’s a general description of fusion energy and how General Fusion (the company) is approaching the clean energy problem, from a June 18, 2021 posting by Bob McDonald on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s (CBC) Quirks and Quarks blog (Note: Links have been removed),

Vancouver-based fusion energy company General Fusion has entered an agreement with the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority to build a nuclear fusion demonstration plant to be operational in 2025. It will take a unique approach to generating clean energy.   

There is an industry joke that fusion energy has been 20 years away for 50 years. The quest to produce clean energy by duplicating the processes happening at the centre of the sun has been a difficult and expensive challenge.

It has yet to be accomplished on anything like a commercial scale. That is partly because on Earth the fusion process involves handling materials at extreme pressures and temperatures many times hotter than the surface of the sun.

The nuclear technology that has provided electricity for decades around the world relies on fission, which splits heavy atoms such as uranium into lighter elements, releasing energy. However, this produces hazardous and durable radioactive waste that must be stored, and more catastrophically has led to major accidents at Chernobyl and Fukushima.

Fusion is the opposite of fission. Lighter elements such as hydrogen are heated and compressed to fuse into heavier ones. This releases energy, but with a much smaller legacy of radioactive waste, and no risk of meltdown.

The world’s largest fusion reactor experiment, ITER (Latin for “the way”) [International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor] is currently under construction in southern France. It’s a massive international collaboration developing on fusion technology that’s been been explored since it was invented in the Soviet Union in the 1950s. It involves a doughnut-shaped metallic chamber called a tokamak that is surrounded by incredibly powerful superconducting magnets. 

An electrically charged gas, or plasma, will be injected into the chamber where the magnets hold it, compressed and suspended, so it does not touch the walls and burn through them. The plasma will be heated to the unbelievable temperature of 150 million C, when fusion begins to take place.

And therein lies the problem. So far, experimental fusion reactors have required more energy to heat the plasma to start the fusion reaction than can be harvested from the reaction itself. Size is part of the problem. Demonstration reactors are small and meant to test equipment and materials, not produce power. ITER is supposed to be large enough to produce 10 times as much power as is required to heat up its plasma.

And that’s the holy grail of fusion: to produce enough power that the nuclear fusion reaction can become self-sustaining.

General Fusion takes a completely different approach by using mechanical pressure to contain and heat the plasma, rather than gigantic electromagnets. A series of powerful pistons surround a container of liquid metal with the hydrogen plasma in the centre. The pistons mechanically squeeze the liquid on all sides at once, heating the fuel by compression the way fuel in a diesel engine is compressed and heated in a cylinder until it ignites. 

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Exciting, eh? If you have time, you may want to read McDonald’s June 18, 2021 posting for a few more details about General Fusion’s technology and for some embedded images.

At one point I was under the impression that General Fusion was involved with ITER but that seems to have been a misunderstanding on my part.

I first wrote about General Fusion in a December 2, 2011 posting titled: Burnaby-based company (Canada) challenges fossil fuel consumption with nuclear fusion. (For those unfamiliar with the Vancouver area, there’s the city of Vancouver and there’s Vancouver Metro, which includes the city of Vancouver and others in the region. Burnaby is part of Metro Vancouver; General Fusion is moving to Sea Island (near Vancouver Airport), in Richmond, which is also in Metro Vancouver.) Kenneth Chan’s October 20, 2021 article for the Daily Hive gives more detail about General Fusion’s new facilities (Note: A link has been removed),

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The new facility will span two buildings at 6020 and 6082 Russ Baker Way, near YVR’s [Vancouver Airport] South Terminal. This includes a larger building previously used for aircraft engine maintenance and repair.

The relocation process could start before the end of 2021, allowing the company to more than quadruple its workforce over the coming years. Currently, it employs about 140 people.

The Sea Island [in Richmond] facility will house its corporate offices, primary fusion technology development division, and many of its engineering laboratories. This new facility provides General Fusion with the ability to build a new demonstration prototype to support the commercialization of its magnetized target fusion technology.

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The company’s research and development into practical fusion technology as a zero-carbon power solution to address the world’s growing energy needs, while fighting climate change, is supported by the federal governments of Canada, US, and UK.

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General Fusion is backed by dozens of large global private investors, including Bezos Expeditions, which is the personal investment entity for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. It has raised a total of about USD$200 million in financing to date.

“British Columbia is at the centre of a thriving, world-class technology innovation ecosystem, just the right place for us to continue investing in our growing workforce and the future of our company,” said Christofer Mowry, CEO of General Fusion, in a statement.

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Earlier this year, YVR also indicated it is considering allowing commercial and industrial developments on several hundred acres of under-utilized parcels of land next to the north and south runways, for uses that complement airport activities. This would also provide the airport with a new source of revenue, after major financial losses from the years-long impact of COVID-19.

You can find General Fusion here and you can find ITER here.