Nuclear fusion firm building at Bull Run site has enthusiastic backers, including Bill Gates
Type One Energy, the Oak Ridge-based company building a nuclear fusion prototype at the retired Bull Run coal plant, is taking advantage of a growing appetite among billionaires and venture capital firms to fast-track nuclear fusion as a source of clean energy.
The company is positioned to take a "direct shot on goal" at commercializing fusion energy, CEO Christofer Mowry said, and the Infinity One prototype at Bull Run is a critical step on the way − one that will be paid for with the help of Type One's $82.4 million in recent fundraising, which includes money from Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
The early fundraising is a sign of enthusiasm among private investors for fusion – the process that fuels stars, smashing together atoms rather than splitting them apart.
Type One Energy also will move its headquarters from Oak Ridge to a Hardin Valley facility now occupied by Radio Systems at 2410 Cherahala Blvd. With a $223 million investment over the next five years, it plans to create more than 300 jobs in the region with an average salary of $130,000.
Its presence in Oak Ridge and Knoxville highlights the region's status as a hub for the next renaissance of nuclear technology, driven by startups like California-based Kairos Power, which began building its Hermes advanced reactor in Oak Ridge this month.
The annual Nuclear Opportunities Workshop, hosted by the East Tennessee Economic Council, drew more than 600 industry professionals to the Airport Hilton hotel July 30-31, including representatives of Type One Energy.
Type One Energy builds on fusion breakthroughs
Type One Energy expects to begin building its prototype by 2026 and to launch a pilot power plant with a third party by 2030.
Type One Energy's stellarator, a device shaped like a twisted doughnut, uses complex magnetic fields to contain burning plasma several times hotter than the core of the sun. Various companies and institutions have been developing the technology for decades.
The controlled plasma in the device sits at more than 180 million degrees Fahrenheit in a continuous fusion reaction that releases heat to generate electricity with no carbon emissions or radioactive waste. Just one gram of fusion fuel in a stellarator can generate as much energy as 11 tons of coal, according to Type One Energy.
The promise of a virtually limitless supply of clean energy from fusion became more real after a Department of Energy lab in California successfully ignited a fusion reaction that created more energy than it took to produce in 2022.
Type One Energy's globally renowned team of fusion scientists has combined experience of more than 150 years, 500 academic papers and five stellarator devices. The company has offices in Boston, Madison and Vancouver − all hubs for fusion technology.
How ORNL and global supporters help Type One Energy innovate
After launching in 2019 and attracting millions in private venture capital in 2023, Type One Energy signed a memorandum of understanding with TVA and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to partner on its fusion prototype. It selected the Bull Run plant in Clinton because it already contained ideal infrastructure for the device.
It doesn't hurt that the transition from coal to fusion is highly symbolic of the direction of the U.S. energy grid.
The partnership with the lab gives Type One Energy access to ORNL's world-leading supercomputers, capable of processing the complex models needed to achieve the correct stellarator shape.
Stellarators are attractive to investors because, unlike nuclear fission plants, they can be located almost anywhere. They have intrinsic safety features, create no long-term radioactive waste and present fewer technical barriers than their fusion cousin, the more well-known tokamak device.
To advance its ambitious goals, Type One Energy went global with its latest round of new shareholders, including GD1 from New Zealand, Foxglove from Australia, and several other funds in the Asia-Pacific region.
The location of new shareholders matters, Mowry said. Australia and New Zealand do not have any nuclear power plants but are close to major population centers affected by climate change.
"Southeast Asia is ground zero for climate change," Mowry said. "If we don't get Southeast Asia to net zero, it doesn't matter what the rest of us do, so it's incredibly important in terms of mitigating climate change and decarbonizing the world's energy system."
Source: Knoxville News Sentinel, by Daniel Dassow
The East Tennessee Economic Development Agency markets and recruits business for the 15 counties in the greater Knoxville-Oak Ridge region of East Tennessee. Visit www.eteda.org
Published August 1, 2024