Construction of world's 1st nuclear fusion plant starts in Washington

https://share.google/tu0XzIKzBKTHWCxdh

 

"A Washington-based company has started the construction of a nuclear fusion facility in Chelan County, Orion. Helion Energy aims to produce low-cost, clean electric energy using a fuel derived from water.

The plan is to produce electricity from fusion by 2028 and supply the power to Microsoft data centres."

Edited August 2, 2025Aug 2 by martin-w

Looking forward to 2029 then 🙂

Quote

a fuel temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius (180000032 degrees Fahrenheit),

Was this written by AI?

100 million degrees Celsius is 180.000032 million degrees Fahrenheit.  A human (a normal human) would write "180 million".

<shrug>

Hook

48 minutes ago, LHookins said:

Was this written by AI?

 

Maybe. True report though. Helion have made significant strides with their new reactor, apparently.

Generates electricity directly rather than having to generate steam and turn turbines.

A plan to build a grid-scale nuclear fusion power plant near me has been approved.  If nuclear fusion power generation works out and is efficient, it could revolutionize power electrical power generation.

49 minutes ago, stans said:

A plan to build a grid-scale nuclear fusion power plant near me has been approved.

So this is legit?  It's hard to tell what's real and what isn't these days.  The article raised a few red flags.
 

2 hours ago, martin-w said:

clean electric energy using a fuel derived from water.

I assume they're talking about hydrogen fusion.  Does "hydrogen power" have such negative connotations that they have to refer to it as water?  Next thing you know they'll be saying our sun is powered by water!  😄 

There was recently an article about a car powered by water.  A closer look revealed it was hydrogen powered.

We used to have steam powered cars, and the pinnacle appears to be the Doble steam car.  Jay Leno has one.  They were made from 1909 to 1931.  The boiler was actually oil fired if I remember right.  So yeah, "a car powered by water." More or less.

Hook

2 hours ago, martin-w said:

Generates electricity directly rather than having to generate steam and turn turbines.

That may increase the efficiency, provided they generate power to begin with.

38 minutes ago, LHookins said:

So this is legit?  It's hard to tell what's real and what isn't these days.  The article raised a few red flags.

Hard to tell. They make a serious effort, but they are trying to solve a problem on which thousands of plasma physicists have worked for the last 60-70 years. I personally would invest money in Helion, but I wish them good luck. I believe the National Ignition Facility ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Ignition_Facility ) has greater chances of success.

2 hours ago, martin-w said:

Generates electricity directly rather than having to generate steam and turn turbines.

How do they 'generate electricity directly' ?

I will believe this when I see it.

1 hour ago, DD_Arthur said:

How do they 'generate electricity directly' ?

Nuclear fusion heats the plasma causing it to expand, which induces a magnetic field in the coils, which in turn produces an electrical current.

I don't understand how the expanding plasma creates a magnetic field but I'll take their word for it.

I'm curious just how much current this produces and whether it's actually enough to power a data center.  If it is, then this is a game changer.

I remain skeptical, as we've seen companies use taxpayer subsidies to do things like this before.  The company owners and execs don't have much to lose since it's not their money, so if it works, great, and if not, oh well, no skin off their backs and just more money wasted.

I do support continued research and investment in nuclear fusion.

Dave

 

 

1 hour ago, dave2013 said:

Nuclear fusion heats the plasma causing it to expand, which induces a magnetic field in the coils, which in turn produces an electrical current.

I don't understand how the expanding plasma creates a magnetic field but I'll take their word for it.

I'm curious just how much current this produces and whether it's actually enough to power a data center.  If it is, then this is a game changer.

Thanks Dave!

 

https://www.helionenergy.com/

https://www.helionenergy.com/technology/

 

 

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How does Helion generate electricity from fusion?

Our device directly recaptures electricity; it does not use heat to create steam to turn a turbine, nor does it require the immense energy input of cryogenic superconducting magnets. Our technical approach reduces efficiency loss, which is key to our ability to commercialize electricity from fusion at very low costs.

The FRC plasmas in our device are high-beta and, due to their internal electrical current, produce their own magnetic field, which pushes on the magnetic field from the coils around the machine. The FRCs collide in the fusion chamber and are compressed by magnets around the machine. That compression causes the plasma to become denser and hotter, initiating fusion reactions that cause the plasma to expand, resulting in a change in the plasma's magnetic field. This change in magnetic field interacts with the magnets around the machine, increasing their magnetic field, initiating a flow of newly generated electricity through the coils. This process is explained by Faraday's Law of Induction.

 

 

 

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Where is Helion going to get helium-3?

Helium-3 is an ultra-rare isotope of helium that is difficult to find on Earth, and is used in quantum computing and critical medical imaging.

Fortunately, helium-3 is also produced as a result of deuterium-deuterium fusion. Helion will produce helium-3 by fusing deuterium in its fusion generators utilizing a patented high-efficiency closed-fuel cycle.

Helium-3 has, historically, been very difficult to produce. Scientists have even discussed going to the Moon to mine helium-3 where it can be found in much higher abundance. Helion’s new process means we can produce helium-3 ourselves (no space travel required!).

Today, Helion produces a very small amount of helium-3. In future systems, we will increase helium-3 output to be used in our fuel cycle.

 

 

Edited August 2, 2025Aug 2 by martin-w

Will the price of water go up???😉

 

Oh course! Faraday's Law of Induction. I should have known 🤷‍♂️

So not a bloody great steam engine?