Why Nuclear Fusion is Closer Than You Think

Do you think any of these fusion startups have a shot? Visit brilliant.org/undecided to sign up for free. And also, the first 200 people will get 20% off their annual premium membership. If you liked this video, check out: The Future of Solid State Wind Energy - No More Blades https://youtu.be/nNp21zTeCDc?list=PLnTSM-ORSgi4dFnLD9622FK77atWtQVv7 Corrections: More of a clarification, but First Light Fusion net gain plans are a ~150 MW pilot facility costing less that $1 billion in the 2030s.

Thanks for including our team in this fusion overview, Matt! No matter the approach, it's clear that all of us are focused on one mission: creating clean, carbon-free energy from fusion.

Great video, but there's one small correction I'd like to make. You say deuterium and tritium are primarily sourced from seawater. It's more accurate to say seawater is the most abundant source, but currently, it is not used as a source very often. Instead, we harvest deuterium and tritium from fission reactors as it is generated in the core. This of course could change, but the technology behind extracting those isotopes from seawater is honestly deserving of its own video.

In 1984 I interviewed at Livermore Labs based on my college work in the physics of laser-induced fusion. At the time, they said they were 3 years away. Happy to see that companies are still 3 years away.

Having been impressed by the molten salt fission systems, I feel sure they are going to fill the energy need for many centuries. If the thorium systems come good, even longer. Problems appear to be mostly with getting the best alloys for the pipework and maintaining a good reducing chemical potential. Much closer than any of the fusion systems. Then there's the LPP fusion project with their focused plasma beam. Looks very interesting.

Thank you Matt. I spent about 3 years studying 34 fusion energy projects around the world. As you point out, most all are variations of the tokamak, which has many inherent problems, which you allude to in the present video. The varying approaches of the three initiatives here are among those that caught my attention while doing my own research. However, the project I found to be most promising wasn't mentioned by you today. I'm referring to HB11 Energy in Australia. While funded so far on a shoestring, all the components of the model have been demonstrated in the lab in published, peer-reviewed scientific papers. Using Nobel Prize-winning (off the shelf) chirped pulse amplified laser technology, HB11 proposes to produce electrical current rather than heat. While this overlaps with Helion, it's fundamentally different. Why? (1) Ponderomotive fusion of hydrogen and boron 11 produces 3 helium nuclei (the positive charge) from instantaneous combination (fusion) of the reactants. The reaction is so rapid that heat is not a byproduct. The positively charged alpha particles can be used to generate an electrical current through closing a circuit with the electrons separated from the atoms in the reaction. (2) Neither the reactants nor the products are radioactive. Contrast this to all the reactions using deuterium and tritium, which emit neutron radiation in the fusion reaction and also interact with carbon in the atmosphere (and the human body). (3) While a magnetic field is required to contain and channel the products, there is no plasma (nor heat) to contain, channel or stabilize. To summarize, you put in simple hydrogen (no deuterium or tritium) and boron 11, and you get out an electrical current (electrons & helium nuclei). No heat is produced. There are no steam turbines or plasma containment required. There is no radioactivity going in or coming out. And, of course, there is no carbon. As an added note, HB11 Energy is almost never mentioned by anyone seeking to educate the public about fusion energy. I'd sure like to see you dig into the HB11 Energy story, particularly as you bring a particular brand of clarity to all of your stories!

Absolutely love the idea of presenting different way of mastering one technology, even more the interviews from startups in the real world. Made me realize how many ways there are of generating fusion. Love it !

I hope you do a followup video in a few years. It sounds like we’ll have a better idea of which if any of these projects will be viable in a few years once they’ve managed to build and test their prototypes. There is of course no guarantee that a working fusion reactor will be a commercially viable fusion reactor, but so long as the results of this research are shared if they turn out to be deadends (whether through scientific journals or sold to other fusion projects), then in the worst case it’ll help inform how to build ITER’s successor. Glad to see that at least on initial inspection they aren’t just scams.

I just read that a fusion reactor just made a net gain. Seems like that’s HUGE by way of proving the possibilities.

"Was it a waste of money? Well not if you ask the people receiving the money." - Matt Ferrell -

While all 3 look interesting, the one I'm hoping works best is the Helion design. It looks like it would be the easiest to scale up or down and also looks like it would be the easiest to make "portable", as in an ocean going vessel or even a space ship.

Oh My God! I've been thinking about "Direct Energy Conversion" for so long! I'm not a scientist or anything. I was thinking how much better it would be for the energy to be converted directly into electricity without having to pass through a heat engine which by definition has low COP. Didn't think it was possible. I'm glad I was wrong.

Just announced a 120% net gain. Fascinating time to be alive!

A very nice overview: Just two comments: 1) Deuterium-Tritium Fusion does produce radioactive waste - its half-life is just way shorter than that of waste from fission. 2) ITER is a research project - the results gained there help to accelerate the fusion projects in the private sector. I think both ways are very important

Engineers are always confident they can crack a problem, and they stay confident even decades into working on it. When it comes to commercial-grade fusion, I'll believe it when I see it.

They used to say its 10 years away and always will be. Now it's 5 years away and always will be. You are right. It IS getting closer!

It happened! 80 years since we discovered nuclear fission, today we have discovered net energy positive fusion. No longer will it be 30 years away, the time is now. Congratulations Lawrence Livermore Laboratories and all those involved in this tremendous achievement.

This is the coolest thing I have seen in weeks. Thank you for helping me learn, Matt!

The thrill of the chase really motivates these independent companies. You can just tell when people thrive on figuring out the science and then applying it. Exciting stuff for sure! This is a perfect example of how concentrating on one specific model (tokamak) can almost be counterproductive in the long run... as other concepts and discoveries surface that can be developed much faster and cheaper. Not saying that the tokamak style reactors won't eventually work - just that because of the time involved in developing the science, other fusion concepts might already be up and running by the time tokamak's are viable. Well done Matt and team! 🤠

Thx for posting, quality work, well presented.