where we are where we re going fusion science magnetized target fusion magnetic confinement inertial confinement company team management team board of directors advisory council investors careers media most recent rethink fusion blog in the news press releases events scientific papers videos connect home rethink fusion discover how innovation could deliver unlimited clean energy close unlimited energy harnessing the sun s fuel fusion the power of the sun . harnessed here on earth it would transform the world s energy supply . fusion is clean producing no pollution or greenhouse gas emissions and fuel is abundant . fusion is also safe the process can not runaway and produces no long lived radioactive waste . how fusion powers the suninside the sun s core pressures are millions of times more than the surface of the earth and the temperature reaches more than 15 million degrees c. every second this pressure and heat convert 600 million tons of hydrogen into helium releasing a tremendous amount of heat and energy . the energy squeeze is on world energy consumption is expected to increase by over 50 % by 2030 yet world energy reserves for non renewable sources are running out . where is the energy going to come from abundant fusion s fuel is everywhere fusion energy is fueled by deuterium and tritium isotopes which can be easily extracted from seawater and derived from lithium in abundant supply . there is enough to power the planet for hundreds of millions of years . the world s seawater constitutes a 23 trillion tonne reserve of deuterium an isotope that is easily extracted . if fusion power plants were to generate all of today s electricity this seawater reserve would last over 65 billion years . additionally lithium is abundant and widely available in land and sea reserves sufficient enough for over 200 million years of fusion power plant based electricity production . greenhouse gases ghg such as co2 are altering the world s climate . atmospheric co2 has climbed by 25 % since the 1950s and is approaching levels where scientists predict unavoidable consequences . clean solving the climate crisis beyond fusion s ability to generate power without pollution or ghg emissions it s also a more land friendly solution than traditional renewable energy technologies like wind and solar . it requires very little space and can be located close to cities and other sources of demand . today coal fired electricity generation provides nearly 40 % of the world s electricity produces 25 % of all ghgs and is a major source of air pollution . natural gas provides another 20 % of the world s electricity and generates nearly 20 % of global ghgs . to displace them we need generation sources that avoid the pollution land impacts and ghg emissions while remaining convenient economical and widely available . fusion could meet this challenge . safe where you live work and play fusion power is inherently safe . it s extremely hard to initiate and sustain and uses very little fuel at any given time . any breakdown will instantly stop the fusion reaction . meltdown or catastrophic release of radioactive material is impossible and no long lived radioactive waste is produced . many people don t realize that coal plants disperse the radioactive elements uranium and thorium in their exhaust . unlike coal fusion power plants will not release radioactive materials . fusion uses and consumes only small quantities of tritium an isotope commonly used inside glow in the dark exit signs and as a biological tracer in nuclear medicine . it s mildly radioactive has a short 12 year half life and is only dangerous to humans if ingested . unlimited energyabundantcleansafe close the case for general fusion dr. michel laberge founded general fusion with a singular focus to develop economically viable fusion energy . his key insight was realizing that magnetized target fusion with the aid of modern electronics materials and advances in plasma physics could provide a faster lower cost and more practical path to fusion power . one can ask why general fusion might succeed where others failed . the reason i think is that general fusion is seizing on a unique opportunity when government programs are fully committed to supporting nif and iter ... general fusion has chosen the middle ground harking back to the linus project 30 years ago but never tested . t. kenneth fowler former associate director fusion lawrence livermore national laboratory how it works general fusion s magnetized target fusion system uses a sphere filled with molten lead lithium that is pumped to form a vortex . on each pulse magnetically confined plasma is injected into the vortex . around the sphere an array of pistons impact and drive a pressure wave into the centre of the sphere compressing the plasma to fusion conditions . general fusion has developed its technology from the beginning knowing that success requires more than solving science challenges . for general fusion success means delivering fusion energy with an approach that has a clear and practical path to commercially viable and competitive power generation . the venture capital funded effort by general fusion may be more successful in addressing the needs of a fusion power plant in terms of entry level of output power radioactivity issues and development cost . dr. peter turchi former chief plasma technology branch naval research laboratory advantages inherently practical general fusion s system has three key advantages that allow for rapid and lower cost development and a fast path to commercialization a thick liquid metal wall a compressed gas driver no consumables to make a major impact on the energy landscape fusion must be both technically viable and economically competitive with existing energy sources . general fusion s entire approach to fusion technology stems from a commitment to commercial viability and a drive to use economics to displace the low cost carbon based incumbents of coal and natural gas . key advantage thick liquid metal wall the thick liquid metal wall surrounding the fusion reaction in general fusion s system is a major practical advantage . the energy from the fusion reaction is absorbed by the liquid metal shielding the steel sphere and preventing damage . as it is absorbed the energy heats the liquid metal and the hot liquid metal can be used to create steam a convenient way to extract the fusion energy . the lithium in this same liquid metal is also easily bred into the tritium fuel required for ongoing operation . key advantage compressed gas all fusion systems must first heat their fuel to extreme temperatures to initiate fusion reactions . this requires energy and the cost of most fusion systems is high because of expensive energy drivers . inertial confinement fusion for example uses massive capacitor banks and lasers to drive their fusion reaction . general fusion on the other hand uses steam a compressed gas that is a proven and inexpensive way to store and release a lot of energy . using computer controlled steam driven pistons allows general fusion to power a fusion reaction for less than 1 % the cost of other fusion drivers . key advantage no consumables it is often proposed that pulsed rather than steady state approaches may be more practical for fusion . most pulsed systems such as inertial confinement use targets made of lead aluminum and even gold which are destroyed on each pulse . the amount of electricity produced from a single pulse would be worth only a few dollars so these targets must be very inexpensive for these pulsed systems to be practical . in contrast the target in general fusion s system is a spheromak plasma composed entirely of fusion fuel there are no consumables . where we are proving it can be built general fusion is developing full scale subsystems to demonstrate that they can meet their performance targets . this includes full scale plasma injectors and acoustic drivers and liquid metal vortex compression tests . every step is matched with simulation to guide ongoing development work . key subsystem plasma injectors above and below the central sphere in general fusion s system are plasma injectors . these cone shaped devices form a spheromak a doughnut shaped plasma wrapped in magnetic field . the spheromak is then accelerated down the cone compressing and heating the plasma . full scale plasma injectors the largest in the world have been constructed to demonstrate formation of the required spheromak plasma . key subsystem acoustic drivers general fusion s novel system to deliver energy to heat the hydrogen fuel to fusion conditions are the acoustic drivers or pistons . powered by steam and controlled by advanced electronics they drive a heavy piston the hammer against a second piston the anvil that is inserted in the side of the sphere . on impact the energy from the hammer is transferred quickly through the anvil and into the molten lead lithium . full scale acoustic drivers have been constructed to demonstrate that they can achieve the required impact velocity energy and impact timing control . key subsystem vortex compression at the core of general fusion s system molten lead lithium is pumped in a 3 metre diameter sphere to form a smooth cylindrical vortex . this vortex is used to confine and compress the plasma . a 1 metre diameter mini sphere with 14 full scale acoustic drivers has been constructed to test liquid metal vortex formation and compression . where we re going full scale net gain prototype in the next phase of development general fusion will be constructing a full scale prototype system . the prototype will be designed for single pulse testing demonstrating full net energy gain on each pulse a world first . case for fusionhow it worksadvantageswhere we arewhere we re going close nuclear fusion is the mechanism that fuels the sun the solar system s largest fusion energy source . it involves fusing small atoms together and occurs when two light nuclei collide to form a heavier nucleus . the most practical fusion reaction uses isotopes of hydrogen named deuterium and tritium . deuterium can be extracted from seawater and tritium can be derived from lithium resulting in a ubiquitous source of fuel and a nearly endless supply of clean energy . fusion science the sun s power on earth fusion occurs when atoms normally hydrogen isotopes are heated to very high temperatures allowing them to collide and fuse . in the sun gravity creates those conditions but here on earth the challenge for fusion science is to create the conditions for fusion using magnetic fields and inertia . fusion energy technology is being pursued across a very wide range of conditions . at very low density magnetic confinement fusion attempts to confine plasma at fusion temperatures for long periods of time minutes using very strong magnetic fields . at one trillion times higher density inertial confinement fusion attempts to compress fuel to fusion conditions for a nanosecond . in the middle magnetized target fusion mtf uses some magnetic confinement and some compression to achieve fusion conditions for a few microseconds at intermediate densities . magnetized target fusion general fusion s approach magnetized target fusion mtf is a hybrid between magnetic fusion and inertial confinement fusion . in mtf a compact toroid or donut shaped magnetized plasma is compressed mechanically by an imploding conductive shell heating the plasma to fusion conditions . mtf s advantages stem from its hybrid nature . mtf uses some magnetic field to confine the plasma allowing for slower compression using mechanical systems . magnetic fields in mtf are short lived avoiding complex plasma sustainment technologies.by comparison inertial confinement s fast compression requires high power lasers . magnetic confinement s long plasma life requires massive superconducting magnets particle beams and exotic materials . linus the original mtf power plant linus was the first full power plant concept based on magnetized