Bill Gates fusion systems reach a main reactor building teacher

Commonwealth Fusion Systems was distinguished as a major landmark on Tuesday morning, announcing the installation of a major component of its Sparc display reactor.

The new part is a 24 -footed stainless steel circle, which is mainly formed from Tokamak, the heart of the fusion reactor that hopes CFS is the first of its kind to generate more power than it consumes. It is called the Crystat base, made in Italy and shipped in the middle of the world around the world to CFS in Devens, Massachusetts.

“It is the first piece of the actual integration machine,” Alex Kerily, director of Toukamak operations in CFSTell Techcrunch. Work has now started on the site for more than three years, as the company builds buildings and machines that will support the essence of the reactor.

He said: “It is a big problem for us, because it means that we move to a new stage of the project where we do not build an industrial facility – we still do it a little – but we also build the actual tokamak itself.”

CFS is one of the many startups that have appeared in recent years to follow up Football powerWhich is the connection of Gigawatts from the electricity free of pollution from hydrogen fuel derived from sea water. Investors depend on technology to meet future energy needs, which rise as heavy users multiply such as electric cars and data centers.

The company that is Supported by Bill Gates Energy Projects Among other investors, it is widely considered one of the best possibilities to prove whether the integration force is commercially feasible. The company announced in December it is The first commercial reactor It will be outside Richmond, Virginia.

It is expected to be online Sparc in 2027, and if it works as CFS, this may be the first tokamak that produces more power than it requires. Until now, only the National Energy Fighter Facility has been able to reach the so -called scientific separation even in a series of successful experiences, Firstly It happened in December 2022.

But the NIF reactor is very different from CFS, using the laser to press the fuel peel to fusion conditions. TOKAMak from CFS magnets in plasma is used 100 million degrees Celsius in the form of narrow distress, restricting it and pressing it until fusion occurs.

Tokamaks uses super magnets to generate strong magnetic fields required for plasma. That magnet It should be cooled to -253 ° C with liquid helium. The cold organizer helps to keep these cold conditions, as it behaves like thermal by isolating it from the surrounding temperatures. Creelli said: “The base of the cold regulator is similar to the bottom of the lupine.”

Just like someone receives the Amazon package, CFS was canceling boxes and searching the cold regulator base before installing them. But unlike the e -commerce package that takes a few seconds to open it, it took the CFS a few days to remove charging materials and another week “only to make sure that there is nothing damaged in shipping,” Crelli said.

Next, the CFS team moved the Crystat base to the Tokamak hall, where the bolts are placed accurately from the concrete foundation waiting for the stainless steel disk. He said: “Then avoid it.”

Besides the Cryostat base, work continues in the other three main pieces of TOKAMAK, which will be assembled simultaneously in its final composition either in late this year or early next year. After that, CFS will ensure that all the pieces work together as planned, a process known as the assignment that will take months.

“This is the first of the type,” said Kerilli. “There is no like on button on and it is running.”