Korean-based energy technology startup First Light Fusion (First Light) has announced a breakthrough for its novel nuclear fusion technology. First Light is a spin-off from the University of Oxford. It has successfully tested its “electric gun” to ignite fuel in its test reactor’s core.
This milestone was announced just weeks after another breakthrough at its American test facility. It brings sustainable nuclear fusion closer to reality. By using the electric gun, the company has increased the distance its reaction-starting projectile travels by a factor of ten.
In its previous design, the company used a pulsed power machine to electromagnetically launch projectiles. This permitted them to achieve a maximum standoff distance of 1cm.
First Light explained in a press release, “The major milestone will help solve one of the key engineering challenges in designing a projectile fusion power plant. It forms part of the Oxford-based firm’s ongoing work to design a pilot power plant capable of producing commercial energy from fusion,”
First Light is investigating nuclear fusion by using a unique method called inertial confinement fusion. This method involves firing a high-speed projectile to create high temperatures and pressures. These, in turn, trigger a fusion reaction.
This new method generates the high temperatures and pressures required for fusion reactions by using a projectile to compress a target containing fusion fuel at a very high speed. This process resembles the firing of a spark plug in an internal combustion engine.
First Light explained that “This creates the extreme temperatures and pressures required to achieve fusion by compressing a target containing fusion fuel using a projectile traveling at a tremendous speed. The ‘Standoff’ distance is the distance between where the ‘projectile’ is launched and the ‘target’— where the fusion implosion happens,”
First Light faced a major challenge to increase the distance between the projectile and the target in its fusion reactor. Employing the electric gun method, the start-up managed to increase the projectile distance to ten cm, ten times more than its previous record.
First Light explained that “The challenge is to be able to launch a projectile accurately, at velocities of several kilometers per second, while keeping it in a solid state when it hits the fusion fuel. This is a major challenge in First Light’s approach with its pilot power plant design requiring the projectile to be fired at very high speeds and accuracy.”
This is only part of the challenge for First Light with its novel reactors. They also need to reach a distance of about ten feet to create a viable power plant. However, the technique promises to bring this “Holy Grail” of energy production to life.
First Light explains that “First Light’s aim is to design the lowest risk and simplest, most scalable plant design possible. By increasing the energy per shot, and reducing the frequency, First Light aims to achieve a smaller overall plant size with a much lower risk,”
Mila Fitzgerald is a Scientist at First Light Fusion. She said that “This is a milestone moment for First Light and the result of a huge amount of effort, time, and perseverance from the whole team. As we scale up our approach and look to design a pilot power plant based on First Light’s projectile approach – one of the key challenges is being able to fire a projectile at high speeds and from a further distance. That is the basis of our current pilot plant design. This experiment demonstrates a way for us to do that and is an exciting step in the right direction.”