Will Germany be able to use nuclear fusion to generate energy in the next few decades? The chances are looking pretty good. SPRIND is currently supporting two promising start-ups that want to make laser fusion possible: Focused Energy and Marvel Fusion. Although each follows a different approach, both need one thing more than anything else: intensive lasers.
With existing laser systems, nuclear fusion, which generates more energy than is required for its operation, is hardly possible. In response to this, SPRIND has established the subsidiary Pulsed Light Technologies, or PLT for short. PLT was founded with the aim of developing laser systems that are built in such a way that they can later support commercially viable power plant operation,
explains Antonia Schmalz, Managing Director of PLT and Innovation Manager at SPRIND.
The efficiency of current lasers continues to be very low. PLT aims to develop laser systems with an efficiency of more than 10 per cent that emit at least ten light pulses per second. Ten Hertz would be a huge step forward and is also necessary for it to make sense for power plant operation,
says Antonia Schmalz.
The company Focused Energy needs a compression laser and an ignition laser for its research. It wants to compress a ball of fuel from all sides using laser pulses. A second, shorter laser beam is used to accelerate protons and ignite the compressed fuel. PLT is working with the company and other partners to develop the required nanosecond laser and picosecond laser by 2028.
Marvel Fusion, on the other hand, requires a femtosecond laser. The company pursues an unconventional approach: It wants to use a nanostructured solid. The laser beam hits the solid, penetrates it and travels along a rod-like structure inside, knocking electrons out of the way. What remains are the heavier, positively charged atomic nuclei, which are pulled behind the electrons by the resulting electric field. A ring-shaped structure causes the heavy ions to collide with the stored fuel, compressing it and triggering a fusion reaction. The first tests with the PLT laser could start as early as 2026.
Despite the planned laser development, a fusion power plant is still a long way off. What we will be developing are only demonstrators of a central power plant component. However, these will of course show as many aspects of the technology as possible that will be relevant for power plants later,
explains Antonia Schmalz. Even a larger demo plant would require between ten and 100 laser systems, depending on the fusion approach. An actual power plant would need around 500.
Considering that a single laser system is currently around 70 meters long and will still be one to two shipping containers in size even after the PLT developments, the dimensions are easy to imagine.
There is currently no manufacturing capacity anywhere in the world to set up a proper demo plant within one to two years,
says Antonia Schmalz. And it is not just technical production capacities that are lacking, but also money: A demonstration plant would cost around 800 million to one billion euros. However, funding is still pending and is causing a chicken-and-egg problem,
says Schmalz, explaining, As long as it is not clear whether such a plant will be financed, no one in the supply chain will put up the money to drive forward development and build the necessary capacities.
SPRIND and PLT are trying to solve this dilemma by taking their campaign for funding a demonstration plant to the political realm. It is not just about raising the money, but also about helping to build the ecosystem,
explains Schmalz. After all, the main goal of PLT is to develop entire supply chains for the fusion power plant of the future.
It is not only fusion that would benefit from PLT developments. The various laser systems have many other applications,
enthuses Schmalz, who holds a PhD in physics herself. For example, various mechanisms could be used to generate beams of high-energy particles such as electrons or neutrons as well as intense X-rays. There are many possible applications for the diagnosis and radiation of cancer, but also for various material investigations.
Possible locations for such a demonstration plant and a future fusion power plant include the sites of old nuclear or coal-fired power plants. This has several advantages: On the one hand, we would be accommodating the former operators, as they would otherwise have to completely dismantle the nuclear power plants, and on the other hand, we could benefit from existing structures,
explains Antonia Schmalz, adding, The plants offer space and more than enough safety precautions. The risk profile of a fusion power plant is drastically lower than that of a nuclear fission power plant. And then, of course, the connection to the power grid would already be in place.
It makes sense to start thinking today about what will ultimately be needed for a fusion power plant and what must be available. Waiting until everything has been demonstrated technologically and only then starting to build the corresponding capacities and supply chains is not a good idea because we’ll be too slow,
says Schmalz. And even if the first fusion power plant does not end up being built in Germany, forward-looking planning could well pay off. “We have a very strong industry in Germany, both in terms of optics and lasers. This also applies to magnetic fusion technologies. Broad support from the industry is important, not only to be able to use the fusion technology itself, but also to supply it worldwide.
More information on PLT: pulsed-light.org
