Realta Fusion generates electricity directly from a fusion reaction, an apparent first
For fusion startups, the hard part is over: thanks to a groundbreaking experiment in 2022, we know that controlled nuclear fusion reactions can generate more power than they consume. But now companies need to prove their reactors can make enough electricity to be profitable.
One option is to simply turn up the temperature, generating more heat to produce more steam to spin a bigger turbine. Another is to harvest electricity directly from the fusion reactions themselves, an approach that promises to be more efficient.
Realty Fusion announced that an experiment it conducted on June 19 successfully powered a lightbulb using electricity harvested directly from WHAM, its demonstration fusion device. The Wisconsin-based startup believes it is the first private company to publicly demonstrate such a feat.
“We can take power from a plasma,” Kieran Furlong, co-founder and CEO of Realta Fusion, told TechCrunch. The milestone shows “what’s possible,” he added.
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