{"id":8562,"date":"2014-08-12T00:56:32","date_gmt":"2014-08-12T04:56:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8562"},"modified":"2014-08-12T00:56:32","modified_gmt":"2014-08-12T04:56:32","slug":"sci-tech-helion-energy-aiming-for-commercial-fusion-power-by-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8562","title":{"rendered":"Sci-Tech: Helion Energy aiming for commercial fusion power by 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.helionenergy.com\/\" target=\"_d\">Helion Energy<\/a>, a spin-off company from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aa.washington.edu\/faculty\/slough\/\" target=\"_blank\">John Slough<\/a>&#8216;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aa.washington.edu\/research\/plasmaDynamics\/research.html\" target=\"_blank\">plasma physics group<\/a> at the University of Washington, has become very confident after building and operating several prototypes that their fusion design will lead to a low cost operational commercial nuclear fusion reactor within six years:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.helionenergy.com\/?page_id=199\" target=\"_d\">Technology overview &#8211;\u00a0Helion Energy<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/nextbigfuture.com\/2014\/08\/helion-energy-now-has-helium-3-fuel.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&amp;utm_medium=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2Fadvancednano+%28nextbigfuture%29\" target=\"_d\">Helion Energy now has a Helium 3 fuel cycle for its magneto-inertial fusion process &#8211; NextBigFuture.com<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a cartoon diagram of their process:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/FusionEngine-V8-01_6001.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8563\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?attachment_id=8563\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/FusionEngine-V8-01_6001.png\" data-orig-size=\"600,848\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"FusionEngine-V8-01_600[1]\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/FusionEngine-V8-01_6001.png\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8563\" src=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/FusionEngine-V8-01_6001.png\" alt=\"FusionEngine-V8-01_600[1]\" width=\"500\" height=\"707\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/FusionEngine-V8-01_6001.png 600w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/FusionEngine-V8-01_6001-212x300.png 212w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Note that their system produces electricity by direct conversion, not by heating up a fluid and then using the fluid to run a generator. Direct conversion is the\u00a0more efficient approach.<\/p>\n<p>Also, the \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Helium-3\" target=\"_blank\">D-He3<\/a> fusion reaction does not\u00a0produce neutrons so there are\u00a0no residual radiation problems.<\/p>\n<p>The secretive <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tri_Alpha_Energy,_Inc.\" target=\"_blank\">Tri-Alpha \u00a0Energy<\/a> company, a spin-off from a UC Irvine program, has a somewhat similar design to Helion and \u00a0has raised as much as $140M from Paul Allen and others. It would\u00a0be interesting to know\u00a0how\u00a0close they are to a net energy producing reactor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Helion Energy, a spin-off company from John Slough&#8216;s plasma physics group at the University of Washington, has become very confident after building and operating several prototypes that their fusion design will lead to a low cost operational commercial nuclear fusion reactor within six years: Technology overview &#8211;\u00a0Helion Energy Helion Energy now has a Helium 3 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8562\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Sci-Tech: Helion Energy aiming for commercial fusion power by 2020<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science-and-technology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-2e6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8390,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8390","url_meta":{"origin":8562,"position":0},"title":"Sci-Tech: Alternative fusion plans + Helion Energy","author":"TopSpacer","date":"July 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The journal Nature discusses the rise of several fusion power schemes that increasingly appear to be viable low cost alternatives to the dominant Tokamak\/ITER approach: Plasma physics: The fusion upstarts - Nature Fusion furore\u00a0- Editorial\/Nature\u00a0 One of those alternatives mentioned is\u00a0Helion Energy, a spinoff of research at the University of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"HelionExpts","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/HelionExpts.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5159,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=5159","url_meta":{"origin":8562,"position":1},"title":"Sci-Tech: Nuclear fusion projects including General Fusion, Helion Energy and MSNW","author":"TopSpacer","date":"November 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's an overview of several fusion power projects:\u00a0The Nuclear Fusion Arms Race Is Underway - \u00a0Motherboard. And here is info on a couple of alternative fusion approaches. General Fusion, a Canadian based company that has raised $33M so far from Jeff Bezos and other private sources, is aiming for a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science and Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science and Technology","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/zf8QIJ2VgqU\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2312,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=2312","url_meta":{"origin":8562,"position":2},"title":"Sci-Tech: Helion Energy update + Tri-Alpha Energy","author":"TopSpacer","date":"May 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Helion Energy is a spinoff firm from research led by\u00a0Dr. John Slough\u00a0 at the University of Washington that is seeking to build a practical nuclear fusion power system. Their fusion engine is based on colliding and compressing packets of plasma. They believe with about $35 in R&D funding they can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science and Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science and Technology","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8583,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8583","url_meta":{"origin":8562,"position":3},"title":"Sci-Tech: Helion Energy obtains investment funding","author":"TopSpacer","date":"August 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"In a\u00a0recent post\u00a0I discussed\u00a0Helion Energy, a spin-off company from\u00a0John Slough\u2018s\u00a0plasma physics group\u00a0at the University of Washington, that is developing a nuclear fusion power system. They are aiming to have a commercial 50MW reactor\u00a0in six years.\u00a0 Today comes word that they have raised $1.5M from\u00a0Mithril Capital Management\u00a0and\u00a0Y Combinator\u00a0venture capital firms: \u00a0More\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science and Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science and Technology","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10656,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10656","url_meta":{"origin":8562,"position":4},"title":"Sci-Tech: Updates on four alternative fusion power projects","author":"TopSpacer","date":"May 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Some items regarding projects involved in alternative approaches to fusion power: * Dr. Matthew Moynihan will be on The Space Show today to discuss the Polywell system\u00a0for producing fusion energy:\u00a0 7-8:30 pm\u00a0PDT (10-11:30 pm\u00a0EST, 9-10:30 pm\u00a0CDT). * Here's some news about\u00a0three fusion projects - General Fusion\u00a0in Canada,\u00a0 Helion Energy\u00a0in Seattle,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science and Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science and Technology","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9072,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=9072","url_meta":{"origin":8562,"position":5},"title":"Sci-Tech: More fusion power projects","author":"TopSpacer","date":"October 20, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I recently listed some relatively low cost, near(er) term nuclear fusion power projects, \u00a0most of which originated at government labs or from government funded research at universities but are now being pursued by private ventures: Updates on five fusion power projects\u00a0- Dynomak, Helion Power, EMC2 Polywell,\u00a0Lockheed-Martin Compact Fusion, and Sandia's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science and Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science and Technology","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8562"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8564,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8562\/revisions\/8564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}