Commonwealth Fusion Systems

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Commonwealth Fusion Systems
TypePrivate
IndustryEnergy, nuclear
Founded2018; 3 years ago (2018)
Headquarters
Cambridge, Massachusetts
,
US
Key people
Bob Mumgaard (CEO)[1]
Number of employees
100 (2020)
Websitecfs.energy

Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) is an American company founded in 2018 aiming to build a compact thermonuclear fusion power plant based on the ARC tokamak reactor concept.[2] The company is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts close to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from which it spun off and is a member of the United States Department of Energy’s INFUSE public-private knowledge innovation scheme, with Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and the MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center.[3]

History[]

CFS was founded in 2018 as a spin-off from the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center.[4] After initial funding of $50 million in 2018 from the Italian multinational Eni,[2] CFS closed its series A round of venture capital funding in 2019 with a total of US$ 115 million in funding from Eni,[5] Bill Gates's Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Vinod Khosla's Khosla Ventures, and others.[6][7] CFS raised an additional US$ 84 million in series A2 funding from Singapore's Temasek, Norway's Equinor, and Devonshire Investors, as well as from previous investors.[8] As of October 2020, CFS had approximately 100 employees.[9]

In September 2020, the company reported significant progress in the physics and engineering design of the SPARC tokamak,[1][10] and in October 2020, the development of a new high temperature superconducting cable, called VIPER.[11][12]

In March 2021, CFS announced plans to build a headquarters, manufacturing, and research campus (including the SPARC tokamak), in Devens, Massachusetts an hour west of Boston off of Rt 2.[13][14] Also in 2021, CEO Bob Mumgaard was appointed to the board of directors of the Fusion Industry Association, which was incorporated as a non profit association with a focus on combating climate change.[15]

In September 2021, the company announced the demonstration of a high temperature superconducting magnet, able to generate magnetic fields of 20 Tesla.[16][17] According to the New York Times, this was a successful test of "...the world’s most powerful version of the type of magnet crucial to many fusion efforts..."[18]

In November 2021, the company raised an additional $1.8 billion in Series B funding to construct and operate the SPARC reactor. [19]

Technology[]

CFS plans to focus on proving new yttrium barium copper oxide high-temperature superconducting magnet technologies. The company successfully demonstrated a large-bore, high-field (20 Tesla) magnet in September 2021.[20][8]

This magnet technology will be used to construct SPARC, a demonstration net-positive energy tokamak.[21][22][23] As of September 2021, SPARC is targeted for completion by 2025.[20] CFS then plans to build a power plant based on the ARC design.[2] Both SPARC and ARC plan to use deuterium-tritium fuel.

The company's VIPER cable can sustain higher electric currents and magnetic fields than previously possible.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Fountain, Henry (29 September 2020). "Compact Nuclear Fusion Reactor Is 'Very Likely to Work,' Studies Suggest". New York Times. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "MIT and newly formed company launch novel approach to fusion power". MIT News. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  3. ^ Laboratory, Princeton Plasma Physics (2021-01-02). "Future Zero-Emissions Power Plants: Scientists Collaborate on Development of Commercial Fusion Energy". SciTechDaily. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  4. ^ Tollefson, Jeff (9 March 2018). "MIT launches multimillion-dollar collaboration to develop fusion energy". Nature. pp. 294–295. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-02966-3. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  5. ^ Devlin, Hannah (9 March 2018). "Nuclear fusion on brink of being realised, say MIT scientists". the Guardian. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  6. ^ Rathi, Akshat (September 26, 2018). "In search of clean energy, investments in nuclear-fusion startups are heating up". Quartz. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  7. ^ "Commonwealth Fusion Systems Raises $115 Million and Closes Series A Round to Commercialize Fusion Energy". PR Newswire. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  8. ^ a b Systems, Commonwealth Fusion. "Commonwealth Fusion Systems Raises $ 84 Million in A2 Round". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  9. ^ Aut, Kramer David author (2020-10-13). "Investments in privately funded fusion ventures grow". Physics Today. 2020 (2): 1013a. doi:10.1063/PT.6.2.20201013a.
  10. ^ "New Scientific Papers Predict Historic Results for Commonwealth Fusion Systems' Approach to Commercial Fusion Energy". Commonwealth Fusion Systems. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  11. ^ "New High-Temperature Superconductor (HTS) Cable Demonstrates High Performance". Commonwealth Fusion Systems. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  12. ^ "Superconductor technology for smaller, sooner fusion". MIT PSFC. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  13. ^ Chesto, Jon. "MIT energy startup homes in on fusion, with plans for 47-acre site in Devens". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  14. ^ "Commonwealth Fusion Systems Selects 47-Acre Site in Devens, Mass., for Historic Commercial Fusion Energy Campus". Commonwealth Fusion Systems. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Fusion Industry Association Announces Independent Incorporation and Expansion". Yahoo! Finance. 5 May 2021.
  16. ^ "MIT-designed project achieves major advance toward fusion energy". MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
  17. ^ "Commonwealth Fusion Systems creates viable path to commercial fusion power with world's strongest magnet". www.cfs.energy. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
  18. ^ Reed, Stanley (2021-10-18). "Nuclear Fusion Edges Toward the Mainstream". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-10-30.
  19. ^ "Nuclear-Fusion Startup Lands $1.8 Billion as Investors Chase Star Power". Wall Street Journal. 1 Dec 2021.
  20. ^ a b Chandler, David (8 September 2021). "MIT-designed project achieves major advance toward fusion energy". MIT. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  21. ^ "A New Approach to Fusion Energy Starts Today | MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences". eapsweb.mit.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
  22. ^ Greenwald, Martin (2019). "Fusion Energy: Research at the Crossroads". Joule. 3 (5): 1175–1179. doi:10.1016/j.joule.2019.03.013.
  23. ^ Creely, A. J.; Greenwald, M. J.; Ballinger, S. B.; Brunner, D.; Canik, J.; Doody, J.; Fülöp, T.; Garnier, D. T.; Granetz, R.; Gray, T. K.; Holland, C. (2020). "Overview of the SPARC tokamak". Journal of Plasma Physics. 86 (5). doi:10.1017/S0022377820001257. ISSN 0022-3778.

External links[]

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