Xcimer Energy: Paving the Way for Commercial-Scale Fusion Power
For years, nuclear fusion has held the promise of providing inexpensive, inexhaustible, and pollution-free power. However, breakthroughs in this field have been few and far between, and commercial fusion has always seemed to be 20 years away. But in August 2021, Conner Galloway and Alexander Valys, two roommates from MIT who have been closely following fusion research, came across some news that sparked their interest. Scientists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) had achieved a significant breakthrough in nuclear fusion by doubling their previous best result.
While this news didn’t receive much attention in the popular press, Galloway and Valys recognized it as a turning point. Motivated by this development, Galloway founded Xcimer Energy in January 2022, with Valys joining him in April. Since then, they have been working diligently with their team to develop plans for a fusion power plant that they believe has the best chance of providing commercial-scale power.
Xcimer Energy is pursuing a specific type of fusion called inertial confinement fusion, which is the same type used by the NIF. In December 2022, the NIF demonstrated that controlled nuclear fusion could produce more power than was needed to initiate the reaction. In inertial confinement fusion, a laser is fired at a small fuel pellet, compressing and heating it until its deuterium and tritium atoms fuse together, releasing a tremendous amount of energy.
However, Xcimer Energy is taking a ground-up approach to redesigning the underlying technology. One of the key differences is their laser design, which promises to be more powerful than the NIF’s system. While the NIF’s laser reaches a maximum power output of around 2 megajoules, Xcimer Energy is targeting 10 megajoules for their commercial-scale design. Additionally, Xcimer’s laser design is expected to be significantly cheaper to build and operate. It draws inspiration from the laser technology used in semiconductor manufacturing and incorporates research from the 1980s Strategic Defense Initiative.
Another unique aspect of Xcimer’s design is the use of a waterfall of molten salt inside the reactor, where the fusion explosions occur. This flowing salt not only absorbs the energy released during the reaction but also helps generate steam to power a turbine. Moreover, the waterfall design provides added protection to the reactor walls, eliminating the need for frequent replacements.
Despite being just two years old, Xcimer Energy has set an ambitious ten-year timeline to reach a pilot plant that will prove its commercial-scale ambitions are more than just theoretical. The company plans to spend the next two years building a demonstration-scale version of its laser system, called Phoenix. This demo won’t achieve the full 10 megajoules but will showcase the cost savings associated with Xcimer’s approach.
To fund this phase, Xcimer Energy has raised a $100 million Series A round led by Hedosophia, with participation from other prominent investors. Additionally, the company has secured a $9 million milestone-based grant from the Department of Energy.
Galloway and Valys are confident in their timeline and believe that fusion power is proven science. They view the challenge as building a laser that is big enough, cheap enough, and efficient enough to make commercial-scale fusion power a reality. With their innovative approach and strong backing, Xcimer Energy is poised to play a crucial role in bringing fusion power closer to fruition.
