February 24, 2025 – Unlimited clean energy may be just a decade away, thanks to a milestone reached by nuclear fusion startup, OpenStar Technologies, late last year.
Nuclear fusion is the process of fusing two hydrogen atoms into a single helium atom, resulting in massive amounts of leftover energy in the form of heat and light (this is the process that powers stars like the sun). Current nuclear fusion reactors, like the tokamak, use coiled magnets on the outside of a donut-shaped vessel to contain the resulting energy, or plasma. Likened to using rubber bands to contain Jello, this construct makes it difficult to create and maintain the plasma.
New Zealand-based OpenStar has made a design breakthrough, however, achieving “first plasma” using a nuclear fusion reactor prototype they’ve named Junior. Essentially turning the sun inside out, Junior features a levitated superconducting dipole magnet centered inside the vacuum, ringed by the thermonuclear plasma. This dipole design is found in nature, including in the Earth’s magnetic field, and produces more stable and sustainable fusion reactions than traditional nuclear reactors.
A test of the company’s inside-out design late last year resulted in “first plasma”, the creation of superheated (300,000 Celsius/540,000 Fahrenheit) ionized helium effectively contained by the magnetic field of the inner levitated dipole magnet. Achieving “first plasma” is the first step in creating containable fusion energy, proving OpenStar’s prototype effective.
Driven by hydrogen, the most common element in the cosmos, nuclear fusion promises unlimited clean energy with no resulting pollution or radioactive waste. OpenStar’s nuclear reactor prototype uses existing, affordable materials and is faster and easier to engineer than the tokamak. These improvements enable scientists to test and improve their reactors more quickly, shortening the timeline to achieve clean, commercial, nuclear energy.
Learn more about OpenStar and Junior at https://www.openstar.tech/news-and-media.
