Fusion power startup Inertia Enterprises announced on Tuesday its collaboration with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) through three strategic agreements aimed at commercializing a cutting-edge laser-based fusion reactor.
This partnership positions Inertia to potentially outpace its competitors in the fusion energy sector. The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at LLNL is notable for being the first experiment to demonstrate that controlled fusion reactions can yield more energy than the input required to initiate them. Inertia made headlines earlier this year by securing $450 million in a Series A funding round, establishing itself as one of the most well-funded startups in the fusion industry.
Inertia and LLNL are focusing on a fusion method known as inertial confinement, which achieves the necessary conditions for fusion by compressing a fuel pellet with external forces. This contrasts with alternative methods that rely on powerful magnetic fields to contain plasmas until fusion occurs.
At the NIF, a sophisticated array of 192 laser beams targets a small gold cylinder, or hohlraum, containing a diamond-coated fuel pellet. When these lasers strike the hohlraum, it vaporizes, releasing X-rays that compress the pellet. The diamond coating transforms into a plasma, which in turn compresses the deuterium-tritium fuel, a crucial step for achieving fusion.
For this technology to effectively contribute to the energy grid, these complex reactions must occur multiple times per second. The concept of a laser-driven reactor was initially theorized in the 1960s, primarily for safer thermonuclear weapon research, but its potential for energy production has since gained significant attention. Construction of the NIF began in 1997, culminating in a breakthrough where fusion reactions produced more energy than was required to initiate them.
A number of startups, including Inertia, Xcimer, Focused Energy, and First Light, are now striving to scale this technology into commercially viable power plants. As the NIF's laser technology is based on earlier models, there is optimism that newer, more efficient lasers will reduce the energy needed for each fusion reaction, enhancing the feasibility of profitable commercial power generation.
The agreements between Inertia and LLNL include two strategic partnerships and a cooperative research and development agreement aimed at advancing laser technology and improving fuel targets for enhanced performance. Inertia is also set to license nearly 200 patents from LLNL.
Given that Annie Kritcher, Inertia's co-founder and chief scientist, played a pivotal role in the successful NIF experiment that achieved scientific breakeven, this collaboration seems a natural progression. The 2022 CHIPS and Science Act has facilitated her ability to establish Inertia while maintaining her position at LLNL.