The Department of Energy’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) has reached a historic turning point in its long pursuit of clean energy. It attained scientific break even after a string of successful experiments. CFS has significantly raised the profile of fusion with their success in engineering superconducting magnets. CFS has recently succeeded in doing so with the installation of a 24-foot wide, 75-ton stainless steel circle. This iron cage is actually what produces the tokamak, which is the heart of their fusion reactor. This milestone brings CFS within striking distance of its goal. Their goal is to develop the world’s first fusion reactor to produce a net surplus of power.
CFS, one of a half-dozen or so private startups working toward practical fusion power, imagines a day when their tech produces gigawatts of clean electricity. Fusion power even unlocks the enormous environmental and safety benefits of hydrogen fuel derived from seawater. This technology offers the potential for truly abundant, emission-free clean energy future. In December, CFS, Inc. made waves by announcing their plans to build their first commercial-scale reactor beyond test reactors just outside of Richmond, Virginia. The startup’s compact tokamak uses strong magnets to confine and compress plasma. It claims astonishing temperatures of over 100 million degrees Celsius, creating the conditions necessary for fusion.
The cryostat base, an essential component of CFS's Sparc demonstration reactor, was manufactured in Italy and transported to the company's site in Devens, Massachusetts. This installation represents an important milestone for CFS as it moves closer to making Sparc a reality by 2027. That’s just one way the Sparc project is poised to change the face of production energy. It might just be the first tokamak to produce more energy than it consumes!
"The cryostat base is basically like the bottom of the thermos," said Alex Creely.
The NIF’s thought process for achieving fusion is in stark contrast to CFS. CFS is dedicated to realizing fusion power primarily through magnetic confinement in a tokamak. In contrast, the NIF uses lasers to compress a fuel pellet to create the conditions for fusion. Despite these differences, both institutions share a common goal: advancing fusion technology to harness its potential as a sustainable and clean energy source.
"This is the first of a kind," added Creely.
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