China ‘building laser-ignited fusion research centre' in challenge to US
China is building a gigantic laser-ignited fusion power laboratory that is 50pc larger than its US counterpart as the two superpowers spar for energy supremacy.
The part-built research centre near the city of Mianyang, in the Sichuan province, has been observed in satellite imagery, with experts warning it could be used to advance both power generation and nuclear weapons.
It will have four arms housing massive laser bays capable of shooting powerful beams into a central 'experiment bay' in the centre, the independent research organisation CNA Corp told Reuters.
This is for a type of reaction known as laser-ignited fusion, where high-powered lasers are fired at tiny fuel pellets to make them extremely hot and dense, fusing them into hydrogen and releasing energy.
Fusion is the same reaction constantly taking place in the heart of the sun. For decades, scientists have viewed harnessing this tricky process as the 'holy grail' of energy because of the amounts of power it would unlock.
In 2022, the $3.5bn (£2.8bn) National Ignition Facility (NIF) in northern California generated more energy from a fusion reaction than the lasers pumped into the target for the first time – a key milestone.
However, CNA Corp estimated that the experiment bay at the Chinese facility is about 50pc larger than the one at the NIF.
The sprawling development was revealed on Tuesday as American start-up Helion announced a $425m fundraising.
Helion is backed by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Sam Altman, Open AI's chief, and Peter Thiel, the PayPal co-founder and serial venture capitalist.
The highly secretive company is racing to build the world's first fusion reactor by 2028 under a deal with Microsoft.
Using so-called magneto-inertial fusion technology, Helion's reactor will heat up hydrogen and helium based fuels into a plasma state and then smash them together using powerful magnets.
The resulting reaction creates large amounts of energy and generates an electric current through the plasma's interaction with the magnetic field.
Helion's latest fundraising takes the amount raised by the company to more than $1bn and values the business at $5.4bn.
David Kirtley, Helion's chief executive, said: 'We are on the brink of delivering a transformative energy solution that can meet the world's increasing electricity demands while preserving US energy leadership.
'Our mission has always been focused on rapidly developing and deploying safe, reliable fusion generators that provide abundant, affordable electricity.
'Earning the support of such a prestigious group of investors is a testament to our progress in both solving hard scientific and technical challenges and tackling the practical realities of building hardware to commercialise a brand-new technology.'
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