Inertia Enterprises and National Ignition Facility speed fusion pellet production
Technology
Fusion startup Inertia Enterprises, working with the National Ignition Facility, has figured out how to make fusion fuel pellets in just two or three hours instead of several days.
This huge time-saver could help make fusion energy, a cleaner power source, much more practical and affordable.
Inertia's laser eases diamond shell requirements
The old method took a week or more and needed super-precise layers inside diamond shells, which made scaling tough.
Inertia's new process uses a much stronger laser that can handle minor imperfections, so pellets are made quicker and with less reliance on rare, expensive tritium.
The company is aiming high: it wants to crank out 10 fuel pellets every second at future plants, bringing us closer to real-world fusion power.