The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $10 million in funding (DE-FOA-0002784) to establish clear practices to determine whether low-energy nuclear reactions (LENR) could be the basis for a potentially transformative carbon-free energy source. The funding is part of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) LENR Exploratory Topic,... Read more →

Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have found a way to build high-temperature superconducting magnets made of material that conducts electricity with little or no resistance at temperatures warmer than before. Such powerful magnets would more easily fit within the tight space inside... Read more →

After achieving temperatures greater than 75 million degrees Celsius and demonstrating unmatched real-time control of plasma with its fifth-generation fusion research reactor, Norman, TAE Technologies has secured strategic and institutional investments to fund the construction of its next research reactor, the sixth-generation Copernicus. TAE says that its non-radioactive approach represents... Read more →

The US Department of Energy has selected General Fusion for two new funding awards through the Office of Fusion Energy Science’s Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) program. The awards will advance Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) technology for use in commercial fusion power plants through collaboration with the Savannah River... Read more →

The US Department of Energy announced $29 million in funding for 14 projects as part of the Galvanizing Advances in Market-aligned fusion for an Overabundance of Watts (GAMOW) program, which is jointly sponsored by ARPA-E and the Office of Science–Fusion Energy Sciences (SC-FES). (Earlier post.) GAMOW teams will work to... Read more →

Toroidal (doughnut-shaped) tokamaks are prone to intense bursts of heat and particles, called edge localized modes (ELMs). These ELMs can damage the reactor walls and must be controlled to develop reliable fusion power. Scientists have learned to tame these ELMs by applying spiraling rippled magnetic fields to the surface of... Read more →

Chevron Corporation made a Series A investment in Zap Energy Inc., a Seattle-based start-up company developing a next-generation modular nuclear reactor with an innovative approach to advancing cost-effective, flexible, and commercially scalable fusion. Zap Energy will use the funds raised in this round to continue technology development and grow its... Read more →