Render of the future Commonwealth Fusion Systems� fusion nuclear reactor plant in Virginia, US. (Image: Commonwealth Fusion Systems)

According to MIT’s release, Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), a US-based power company, which got its start as a school project at MIT in 2012, intends to construct a 400MW nuclear fusion power plant, scheduled for operation in the early 2030s.

“The plant will be built at the James River Industrial Park outside of Richmond through a non-financial collaboration with Dominion Energy Virginia, which will provide development and technical expertise along with leasing rights for the site,� said MIT. “CFS will independently finance, build, own, and operate the power plant.�

It’s estimated the energy produced by the nuclear fusion facility could power about 150,000 homes.

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“This will be a watershed moment for fusion,� says CFS co-founder Dennis Whyte. “It sets the pace in the race toward commercial fusion power plants. The ambition is to build thousands of these power plants and to change the world.�

Denis Whyte (Image: MIT)

Whyte added the fusion device uses a novel type of superconducting magnet, which allows confinement of plasma used in the reaction, and it is far more compact than prior reactors or tokamaks (devices that use a powerful magnetic field to produce controlled thermonuclear fusion power).

An exact cost for construction and development of the project was not available, but media reported CFS has committed to a multi-billion-dollar investment.

Some speculation on Virginia’s nuclear fusion power plant

While MIT’s announcement came with claims of being the “world’s first� grid-scale fusion plant if completed, a massive experimental fusion power project ongoing in France called ITER (International Fusion Energy Project) would (in theory) have a chance to hold that title if not for the fact that it’s a research and development programme.

That sprawling build � which includes construction of the world’s largest tokamak, assembly of which completed earlier this year � may not be operational until 2040. The programme was formed in 2006 and had plans of running its first full test in 2020, which was pushed back.

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Citing the complex nature of building fusion reactors � with ITER leading the way in discovering the processes� challenges � Scientific American (SciAm), a US-based publishing company, of CFS� and Virginia’s stated ambitions and timetable.

“Let’s hold our nuclear horses for just a moment: there are several steps that must be completed before this fusion plant, named ARC (for ‘affordable, robust, compact�), could be plugged into Virginia’s power grid,� wrote SciAm. “For one, CFS has not finished its demonstration machine.�

A render of the “ARC� fusion reactor by Commonwealth Fusion Systems. (Image: Commonwealth Fusion Systems)

That demo unit is called SPARC (“smallest possible ARC�) and is in Massachusetts (about 550 miles northeast of Chesterfield County). The term “Arc Reactor� is borrowed from pop culture: it’s what Marvel’s Tony Stark (Iron Man) called his compact energy machine that powered his super suit.

“The company says it expects the completed SPARC to show net energy production in 2027. That alone would be a feat,� remarked SciAm.

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And there’s good reason for scepticism on the presented timetable. The ITER Council, earlier this year, announced an extension of its deadlines (a baseline for which was reset in 2016); originally, the plant was to produce its first plasma by next year. Instead, this has been pushed back to 2036, with expectations that the entire project is unlikely to run a full test until 2039.

But it’s important to note there is no “end game� for ITER. “ITER will not convert the heating power it produces as electricity, but � as the first of all magnetic confinement fusion experiments in history to produce net energy gain across the plasma � it will prepare the way for the machines that can,� the group’s webpage said.

And while no two projects are alike (and that’s particularly true with these examples), its likely CFS could run into similar delays and holdups that frequently plagued ITER. Conversely, the research done by ITER over the decades could also help streamline CFS� initiatives.

An aerial view of the 180 hectare site of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project. (Image: ITER)

In CFS� favour is that, unlike ITER, it doesn’t intend to build the world’s largest tokamak, nor is its principal mission discovery and exploration.

Instead, CFS� Virginia fusion technology is meant to be an economic and sustainable energy source for Virginia’s energy grid and its compact and economic design, which � if developed successfully at scale � could help honour the ambitious timetable.

Ian Waitz, MIT’s vice president for research, said, “We’re in a ‘hockey stick� moment in fusion energy, where things are moving incredibly quickly now.

“On the other hand, we can’t forget about the much longer part of that hockey stick, the sustained support for very complex, fundamental research that underlies great innovations.

“If we’re going to continue to lead the world in these cutting-edge technologies, continued investment in those areas will be crucial.�

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