Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is among the leaders of a new wave of fusion-energy projects that have emerged in the past decade, taking advantage of technological advances as well as a surge in private-sector investment. Gretchen Ertl/CFS/MIT Plasma Science and Fusion CenterĬFS, a startup spun out of decades of research at the The tape is made up of yttrium barium copper oxide deposited on a steel substrate. Mimicking the process that fuels the sun, the hydrogen ions-isotopes called deuterium and tritium-will accelerate and collide with such force that they fuse into helium and release highly energetic neutrons.Ĭommonwealth Fusion Systems says this spool of high-temperature superconducting tape is key to the startup’s smaller, cheaper tokamak design. Surrounding a doughnut-shaped vacuum chamber, a 3-meter-tall stack of high-temperature superconducting magnets will create a powerful magnetic field to squeeze and corral a swirling, superheated mass of hydrogen plasma. “Within a few months, if we stick to schedule, that’s where the Sparc tokamak will rest,” Sorbom says. Descending a stairway to a deep basement walled with 2.5-meter-thick concrete, he gestures toward a large, circular hole at the center of the room’s high ceiling, its edges supported by four stout columns. ![]() ![]() Army Reserve base near Boston, an unusual structure is rising from the rolling hills.īrandon Sorbom, the scientific director of Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), leads me toward the center of the building’s cross-shaped footprint, weaving among scaffolding, forklifts, and teams of welders and painters.
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