Fusion Start-Up Plans to Build Its First Power Plant in Virginia

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: New York Times

Fusion Start-Up Plans to Build Its First Power Plant in Virginia

Commonwealth Fusion Systems, an M.I.T. spinoff, aims to generate carbon-free electricity in an industrial park near Richmond in the early 2030s.


A mock-up of a section of the reactor that Commonwealth Fusion Systems is building in Devens, Mass.Simon Simard for The New York Times

By Raymond Zhong
Dec. 17, 2024
Updated 3:13 p.m. ET

Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a start-up founded by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said on Tuesday that it planned to build its first fusion power plant in Virginia, with the aim of generating zero-emissions electricity there in the early 2030s.

The proposed facility is among the first to be announced that would harness nuclear fusion, the process that powers the sun, to produce power commercially, a long-elusive goal that scientists have pursued for the better part of a century.

In theory, a fusion reactor could generate abundant electricity without releasing planet-warming carbon dioxide, and with no risk of large-scale nuclear accidents. But moving the concept out of the lab and onto the power grid has proved immensely difficult.

Commonwealth is the best funded of a crop of start-ups that are hoping to realize fusion’s potential soon. The company is first building a pilot machine in Massachusetts, one it says will demonstrate the feasibility of its technology in 2027.

{snip}

Raymond Zhong reports on climate and environmental issues for The Times. More about Raymond Zhong

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/17/climate/commonwealth-fusion-power-plant.html

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Hat tip, the Washington Post

[Think. Again.]

1. Wow, that would be wonderful.

[marinero]

2. The timeline is probably overly optimistic

It is true that that a breakthrough experiment has been reported (a single fusion event with use of a laser, the first ever to have generated net-positive energy) and it may have been successfully repeated, but it is highly doubtful that a commercial power plant utilizing the technology can be constructed within the next 10 years.
Still, good luck.

[LudwigPastorius]

3. "Commonwealth Fusion Systems...aims to generate carbon-free electricity...in the early 2030s"

Why, that's just around the corner!

[tonekat]

4. I hope they put Dominion out of business

More power (heh) to them.

[Miguelito Loveless]

5. Waste of time, money, and talent

The money is better spent on solar/wind/battery, tech that already works, and is getting better and cheaper each year. I've had solar/battery for nine years and have spend $200-$300 a year on electricity to power/heat/cool my home, and drive my cars. That number will drop to zero, of I may even make a few bucks next year, as I have joined a virtual power plant program.