Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
DEVENS, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A tour of Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) in Devens helps to answer the question 'Is fusion power finally ready for prime time?'
While the short answer may be 'not yet,' it's clear that advances in global fusion power technology, like the ones at CFS, are making it closer to reality.
Both China and the U.S. are in a race to be among the first to build fusion power plants that generate safe, clean, affordable, unlimited energy on a commercial scale.
Essentially, fusion is the smashing together of hydrogen atoms with such immense force, it generates the energy used to make power.
Fusion is the opposite reaction of fission that nuclear energy uses.
CFS makes superconducting magnets that are crucial parts of the fusion power process used to generate electricity:
CFS's Kristen Cullen said her company is focused on creating the scale needed for commercial applications. "Everything we do here, we're thinking about how it scales for our first power plant."
Cullen said CFS expects construction on its first fusion machine to begin in 2025 and expects it to be up and running in 2026.
WBZ NewsRadio's Chaiel Schaffel (@CShaffelWBZ) reports.
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