Part 1 of 2 Parts    
     NearStar Fusion is a five-person startup in Chantilly,Virginia. They have a new energy-generating approach for creating nuclear fusion. The company is training plasma railguns to generate more power than is put in.
     Nuclear fusion is considered the holy grail of the energy sector that could solve the world’s energy needs once achieved. In nuclear fission reactors, heavy atoms are split to generate energy. In nuclear fusion reactors, very light atoms are fused together to generate energy.
     The major problem faced while replicating this on Earth is that, until recently, the energy output from the process has remained smaller than the energy put in to drive the process. It was only in December of 2022 that the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory was able to produce more energy than a nuclear fusion reaction.
     Many of the attempts to create nuclear fusion reactor have relied on the Tokamak design. In a Tokamak, a hydrogen plasma is heated and compressed until fusion is triggered. Inside the donut-shaped vacuum chamber of the Tokamak, researchers try to recreate the conditions on the Sun.
     The NIF utilized what is called inertial confinement to achieve its breakthrough. One hundred and ninety-two lasers are focused on a pellet of hydrogen fuel to heat it to the necessary temperature. However, the lasers being used by the NIF are old and inefficient and the extra energy generated was very small.
     Startups which aim to replicate the NIF’s successes are using modern lasers that can fire more regularly and efficiently. However, in order for nuclear fusion to be economically viable, the output needs to be 15-20 times more than the energy put in to fire the lasers. This is where NearStar Fusion believes that its approach will be able to reach that goal.
     NearStar is a sister company to HyperJet Fusion which is also based in Chantilly. HyperJet is researching fusion energy using plasma jets. Instead of focusing on how to increase output from nuclear fusion reactors, NearStar’s team is working to reduce the energy input needed for ignition which is the beginning of nuclear fusion. According to the company this can be achieved by using plasma railguns because they are energy efficient.
     A railgun is a linear motor device, typically used as a weapon. It uses electromagnetic force to launch high-velocity projectiles which do not contain explosives. It relies on the projectile’s high kinetic energy to cause damage. The railgun uses a pair of parallel conductors referred to as rails. A sliding armature is accelerated along the rails driven by electromagnetic effects of a current that flows along one rail, into the armature, and then back down the other rail. The principle is related to that used in a conventional electric motor.
     A plasma railgun is a linear accelerator which, like a projectile railgun, uses two long parallel electrodes to accelerate a “sliding short” armature. However, in a plasma railgun, the armature and ejected projectile consists of plasma, a hot, ionized gas, instead of a solid slug of material such as those used in conventional railgun weapons.
Please read Part 2 next

Ambient office = 64 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 87 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 86 nanosieverts per hour

White onion from Central Market = 105 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 70 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 59 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient office = 97 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 87 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 93 nanosieverts per hour

Strawberry from Central Market = 125 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 96 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 85 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient office = 103 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 96 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 91 nanosieverts per hour

Raspberry from Central Market = 82 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 80 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 72 nanosieverts per hour

Dover Sole from Central = 95 nanosieverts per hour

     Swedish nuclear technical services provider Studsvik has just signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Finnish utility Fortum to investigate the conditions for new nuclear facilities at the Studsvik industrial site near Nyköping in Sweden.
     The MoU is part of Fortum’s nuclear feasibility study that was launched in October of 2022. During the two-year program, Fortum will explore commercial, technological, and societal, including political, legal, and regulatory conditions both for conventional large reactors and small modular reactors (SMRs) in Finland and Sweden. The study will also explore new partnerships and business models.
     The agreement with Studsvik triggers a process with the aim of assessing the potential to build new nuclear power reactors at the Nyköping site. In the first phase, the goal will be to identify potential business models and technical solutions that merit further development.
     Studsvik has previously said that its Nyköping site is in a strategic location. It houses the company’s broad expertise in nuclear technology, including nuclear fuel and materials technology, reactor analysis software and nuclear fuel optimization, decommissioning and radiation protection services as well as technical solutions for handling, conditioning and volume reduction of radioactive waste.
     Studsvik said, “In the long-term, there is a possibility for new nuclear power on the Studsvik site, either in the form of commercial reactors, research reactors or a combination of both. In that case, Studsvik’s role will be to make land available and contribute with its expertise in various areas – not to build or operate nuclear power plants on its own.”
     Camilla Hoflund is the President and CEO of Studsvik. She said, “Studsvik is positive to new nuclear as a part of the green transition, since it constitutes fossil-free, efficient, and plannable electricity production. We welcome Fortum as a partner to investigate the possibility of establishing new nuclear on the Studsvik site, which is a classic nuclear area with an infrastructure already adapted to nuclear operations.”
     Fortum said that the agreement “supports its strategic priorities to deliver reliable and clean energy and to drive decarbonization in industries by providing clean energy and CO2-free solutions to its customers.”
     Laurent Leveugle is the Vice President for New Nuclear at Fortum. He said, “A lot of new electricity generation will be needed across the Nordics to meet future electricity demand in our societies and industries. I am very satisfied as this agreement shows our ambition to support Sweden’s green transition in the long-term.”
     The MoU between Studsvik and Fortum will run in parallel with agreements with Kärnfull Next and Blykalla (formerly known as LeadCold) that were announced earlier.
     In August of this year, Studsvik signed an MoU with Swedish SMR project development company Kärnfull Next. It is exploring the possibility of building and operating SMRs at Nyköping. In March of 2022, Kärnfull Next signed an MoU with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy to collaborate on deployment of BWRX-300 in Sweden.
     Under an agreement signed in March, Swedish lead-cooled SMR technology developer Blykalla is to carry out a feasibility study on the construction and operation of a demonstration Swedish Advanced Lead Reactor (SEALER) with associated infrastructure for nuclear fuel fabrication in Nyköping.
    Fortum has also signed cooperation agreements with Westinghouse, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Rolls-Royce SMR, EDF, Kärnfull Next as well as Finland’s Outokumpu and Helen Energy.

Ambient office = 104 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 108 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 100 nanosieverts per hour

Mini cuke from Central Market = 91 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 94 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 78 nanosieverts per hour