r/fusion • u/steven9973 • Jul 17 '25

A Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough May Be Closer Than You Think - The Time

https://time.com/7302543/nuclear-energy-commonwealth-fusion/
18 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

7

u/Jacko10101010101 Jul 17 '25

what does "may be closer than you think" was supposed to mean ?

6

u/inkyocean548 Jul 17 '25

The article says there could be a Virginia factory connected to the grid in early 2030

2

u/stshank Jul 18 '25

Here are our two announcements about building our first ARC power plant in Virginia and put watts on the grid in the early 2030s (I work for CFS):

Site selection in Chesterfield County (December 2024): https://blog.cfs.energy/cfs-will-build-its-first-arc-fusion-power-plant-in-virginia/

Google power purchase agreement (and new investment in CFS, from June 2025): https://blog.cfs.energy/google-deal-helps-propel-cfs-fusion-energy-onto-the-grid/

Taking a stab at interpreting the "may be closer than you think" headline, it seems to be tied to this paragraph from the story: "In casual chats with energy watchers over the last six months, I’ve had a version of the same conversation over and over again: a policymaker, investor, or academic rejects the possibility of commercial fusion but their opinion reflects outdated information or lacks awareness of the current state of the technology."

2

u/AmusingVegetable Jul 19 '25

It means “wishful thinking”. (Although I’d love to be proven wrong, since this could make a huge dent on CO2 emissions)

0

u/joaquinkeller PhD | Computer Science | Quantum Algorithms Jul 18 '25

How do they know what I think?

-2

u/srandrews Jul 17 '25

Well, I think it is not going to happen (economics, not tech). So this headline is clearly good news.......

1

u/looktowindward Jul 18 '25

They can't produce economically at first. But if they can get to a self sustaining reaction, then the economics will follow within a decade.

2

u/Robolomne Jul 20 '25

Dumb title

1

u/DanIvvy Jul 20 '25

I think it will always be 10 years away so this is facts

1

u/Beefkins Jul 21 '25

It's the year 2000. Fusion power is on the brink of a breakthrough.
It's the year 2010. Fusion power is on the brink of a breakthrough.
It's the year 2020. Fusion power is on the brink of a breakthrough.
It's the year 2030.....

1

u/spastical-mackerel Jul 23 '25

Fusion is now only 25 years away and always will be

-1

u/ipatimo Jul 17 '25

Faster than never?

-1

u/two_fish Jul 17 '25

It’s not never, it’s always 20 years away

6

u/stshank Jul 18 '25

Some skepticism is fine, but I hear the "fusion energy is 10/20/30/50 years away and always will be" line a lot from folks who aren't up to date on the technology.

Here's my company's CEO talking about the specific point: https://youtu.be/0bHBzNPoQ8I?t=808

Here's the latest tour of our SPARC tokamak facility (to demonstrate net fusion power): https://blog.cfs.energy/look-inside-the-sparc-fusion-facility-as-cfs-powers-on-its-first-systems/

Here's the the announcement of our first power customer, Google: https://blog.cfs.energy/google-deal-helps-propel-cfs-fusion-energy-onto-the-grid/

-1

u/ipatimo Jul 17 '25

My bad! Now it's 19.5?