Made-in-Canada Fusion Breakthrough Could Change the Future of Global Energy

As energy companies and governments worldwide pursue the next advancements in clean energy, Canadian energy company General Fusion has achieved a world-first fusion breakthrough with its creation of a magnetized plasma in a target chamber using its new machine, Lawson Machine 26 (LM26). 

With plasma being created daily in the machine, by compressing plasmas with a lithium liner to create fusion and heating from compression, the team at General Fusion has been tweaking the system to move to the next phase, which is compressing the plasma to create fusion and release energy. The end goal for the company is to produce zero-carbon fusion power that could provide clean electricity to homes and businesses globally.  

Earlier this year, the company’s achievment was detailed in a new peer-reviewed paper that appeared in Nuclear Fusion.

“The largest energy confinement times have been obtained for discharges with a broad plasma current profile, fresh lithium coating on the device walls, and a near constant toroidal field,” read a portion of the paper’s abstract. With plasmas generating thermal confinement times exceeding 10 milliseconds, the meter-scale plasmas the LM26 produces “can thus achieve significant heating if compressed on a timescale of milliseconds.”

Road Map to a Fusion Breakthrough

On December 23, 2022, a historical breakthrough occurred when scientists at the U.S. National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) achieved fusion ignition for the first time. Although it still may be a long road toward making practical use of fusion across all sectors, scientists consider it a valuable, affordable, clean, and renewable energy source and are working steadily toward makking it a day-to-day reality. 

With 20 years of research dedicated to designing the science around LM2, crafting the machine only took 16 months to build. Dr. Michel Laberge, founder and chief science officer of General Fusion, explained the mechanics behind the project. 

“We’ve built 24 plasma injectors, created over 200,000 plasmas, and generated fusion neutrons from plasma compressions – de-risking LM26 and preparing us for this new chapter at General Fusion,” Laberge said in a statement.

“We’re ready to make some fusion happen in LM26!” 

General Fusion’s Technology Progresses

The machine is already making progress, working towards a core heat of 100 million degrees Celsius (the same temperature as the Sun) in its environment to create fusion. 

General Fusion technology differs from its competitors as it uses mechanical compression to spark fusion without the need for magnets or lasers, a method that has proven to be more practical and cost-efficient when building power plants. 

“We are doing what we do best – nimbly advancing our transformative technology and getting real results that matter,” said Greg Twinney, CEO, General Fusion. “Unlike other approaches, MTF is designed from the ground up to produce practical power. As a result, our path to delivering clean fusion energy to homes and businesses following LM26 is more straightforward and streamlined than other technologies.”

A Made-in-Canada Fusion Breakthrough

Government leaders across Canada are considering this a huge milestone and a win in the global race for clean energy. Calling it a “made-in-Canada” innovation is once again putting Canada at the forefront and as leaders in clean energy technology. 

“General Fusion’s work is reinforcing Canada’s status as a powerful innovator in nuclear science and technology,” said the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources Canada. 

“General Fusion is a homegrown success story showing the value of Canadian innovation,” said the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, in a press release. “We are proud to champion their progress as they advance their incredible clean fusion energy technology.”

The new paper, “Thermal energy confinement time of spherical tokamak plasmas in PI3,” by A. Tancetti, C. Ribeiro, et al, appeared in Nuclear Fusion. 

Chrissy Newton is a PR professional and founder of VOCAB Communications. She currently appears on The Discovery Channel and Max and hosts the Rebelliously Curious podcast, which can be found on The Debrief’s YouTube Channel on all audio podcast streaming platforms. Follow her on X: @ChrissyNewton and at chrissynewton.com.