Feds Double Down on Fusion

The federal government is accelerating its support of
pathbreaking fusion power research, ramping up three fusion
research hubs and developing private sector engagement in next
generation nuclear power. In this episode of Grid Talk, host
Marty Rosenberg talks with Kramer Akli who is with the Department
of Energy’s Office of Fusion Energy Sciences.


“What we are hoping on for the hubs in four years is to give us a
clear picture which inertial fusion approach we can pursue,” said
Akli.


DOE has committed to spend $42 million over four years to support
research into the use of lasers to fire up fusion, the process
that powers the sun. This comes after researchers achieved a
significant milestone in 2022 called "scientific
breakeven." 


 “For the first time in history we have achieved ignition
and that you can get more energy out of the target,” he
said. 


Overall, DOE is spending $500 million dollars a year on fusion.


“With these three national hubs, we have leading institutions,
but they bring together more than 30 institutions from national
labs, universities, and the private sector to tackle some of
these challenges.” 


“What we have today that we didn’t have five, 10 or 20 years ago
is we have a private sector, more than 50 companies, that are
pursuing fusion energy and we have attracted more than $6 billion
dollars in investments,” said Akli.


Kramer Akli has been with the Department of Energy since 2016.


He has a PhD in Applied Science from the University of
California, Davis. He received a BS in Plasma Physics from
National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering
Physics Institute).