Commonwealth Fusion Systems has announced that it will be sending a pair of specialized magnets to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the startup exclusively told TechCrunch.
This step comes years ago. chronic fatigue syndrome Japan expects to start up its experimental SPARC reactor. It is the first agreement of its kind, though it probably won’t be the last, indicating that the nuclear fusion industry has matured to the point where it can support supply agreements as well as R&D partnerships.
“We realize that magnets are useful for other things,” CFS CEO Bob Momgaard told TechCrunch. “If we’re going to build a ladder, we’re not going to kick the ladder down. If other people are going to come after us, how can we help them?”
Mumgaard may be underestimating the importance of CFS magnets here. Without them, the company probably wouldn’t exist. The startup worked with scientists at MIT to develop a new type of rare earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) magnet that produces an incredibly strong magnetic field.
Because the magnets are so strong, they can be made smaller while still keeping the hot plasma inside the reactor. Smaller magnets are cheaper, require fewer supporting materials and equipment, and so on. These savings extend throughout the power plant, making it possible to build a commercial version.
Given all these advantages, it’s no surprise that other parties are interested in buying some of CFS’s magnets. CFS isn’t letting potential competitors in, at least not yet; the project at UW-Madison isn’t just a research experiment, it’s a completely different reactor design. WAMThe reactor creates a tube of plasma rather than a donut shape as in CFS’s tokamak reactor.
The money the university is using comes from the federal government’s ARPA-E program. (WHAM is also affiliated with another startup, Realta Fusion, that spun out of the experiment, though CFS and Realta are not partners per se.)
As part of the deal, CFS will ship the completed magnets with the necessary assemblies, cooling and control systems. The startup said its software will also control the magnets’ operations.
The deal isn’t exactly generous, of course, as the university is paying CFS for the magnets, though it hasn’t disclosed how much. “The fact that we have these magnets, and that we’ve spent a lot of money developing them, is actually a good thing for us,” Momgaard said.