Fusion energy developer TAE Technologies has announced a partnership with Japan’s National Institute of Fusion Science (NIFS) to test the effectiveness of hydrogen-boron fusion using the advanced technical resources at NIFS.
Fusion energy is generated by combining elements in specialised machines. This process releases large amounts of energy without carbon emissions. Most fusion efforts use the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium (D-T), and the machines most commonly used in these processes are limited to using D-T fuel.
TAE’s fusion machine, however, is designed to accommodate all currently available fusion cycles. The advantage of hydrogen-boron fusion is the abundance of both materials, which eliminates the need to generate non-naturally occurring isotopes, increasing the efficiency of the process.
“Our partnership with NIFS is a significant opportunity to offer proof of concept for TAE’s preferred fuel cycle and accelerate commercialization of p-B11 fusion, which represents the cleanest, most elegant and abundant energy source on earth,” said Michl Binderbauer, CEO of TAE Technologies.
“We expect this research to yield new insights that will help us further optimize our fusion platform for global adoption and long-term sustainability.”
Toshiki Tajima, Chief Science Officer of TAE Technologies, said: “Collaborative relations between the US and Japan started when President Carter and Prime Minister Fukuda signed a treaty on US-Japan fusion collaboration in 1978.
“I believe our experimental collaboration with NIFS will quickly culminate in the world’s first p-B11 aneutronic fusion demonstration. This joint effort shows that the union of two complementary parties can yield an outcome greater than the sum of its parts – similar to the transformative properties of fusion energy itself.”
The three-year project will involve technicians installing sensors inside the fusion device itself to gauge the effect of hydrogen-boron fusion reactions on containment.
“The development and commercialization of grid-scale fusion energy is a priority in the face of climate change,” said Prof. Masaki Osakabe, Executive Director of the NIFS Large Helical Device Project.
“We are excited to provide this opportunity to research the effects of advanced fuels for fusion with a leader in p-B11, and we look forward to sharing the results.”
