By Romi Mahajan, CEO ExoFusion
At an industry event recently, I had the opportunity to talk about the growth of private fusion companies including one I cofounded-ExoFusion- to a variety of people. Just a few years ago, had I answered “working for a nuclear fusion company” to the query “so what do you do?” I would have gotten a condescending “oh that’s nice” response and the party would have moved on. At this conference, however, I got a lot of interest and fielded excellent questions. Did I mention it was an industry event? Yes, it was. The Real Estate industry!
That’s where we are with private fusion and with the goal of accelerating the path to Commercially Viable Fusion (CVF). Over the past half-decade over $7 billion dollars have been invested in private fusion entities; some companies are building tokamaks, stellarators, pinches, and other machines that can be extrapolated into Fusion Pilot Plants. Others are building enabling technologies or supply-chain materials. Yet others are pure consultancies. They are all important, though some have a better chance of success than others.
In addition, governments worldwide- that have been spending a great deal already on fusion- are wholeheartedly embracing public-private partnerships and are transparently involving private fusion companies in their build outs and plans. ExoFusion is the beneficiary of such wisdom and largesse.
These are heady times in fusion. While there remain scientific and technical challenges and while a variety of executives continue to overplay the current state and make promises that are unlikely to be met, the progress has been immense. Science progresses, technology progresses, processes become better understood, and intelligent and well-meaning players collaborate even if their companies are putatively competing.
At events like the one I referred to, one question comes up inevitably. “How far are we away from fusion energy on the grid?” No one knows exactly but we know it’s not terribly soon. Perhaps ten years? None of us has a crystal ball. Even if it is more than ten years, that doesn’t mean that current efforts aren’t bearing fruit. Not at all. Laying the foundations for a successful Fusion Future is a Herculean task; given its importance to current and future generations, impatience is fine, but hyperbole is not. The public and investors alike deserve a fair picture.
Commercially Viable Fusion is an important an idea as any. We are working assiduously to get there. It’s heartening to see such interest from within and without.