Realta Fusion generates electricity directly from a fusion reaction, an apparent first

For fusion startups, the hard part is over: Thanks to a groundbreaking experiment in 2022 , we know that controlled nuclear fusion reactions can generate more power than they consume. But now companies need to prove their reactors can make enough electricity to be profitable. One option is to simply turn up the temperature, generating more heat to produce more steam to spin a bigger turbine. Another is to harvest electricity directly from the fusion reactions themselves, an approach that promises to be more efficient. Realty Fusion announced that an experiment it conducted on June 19 successfully powered a lightbulb using electricity harvested directly from WHAM, its demonstration fusion device. The Wisconsin-based startup believes it is the first private company to publicly demonstrate such a feat. “We can take power from a plasma,” Kieran Furlong, co-founder and CEO of Realta Fusion, told TechCrunch. The milestone shows “what’s possible,” he added. Realta plans to use direct electricity conversion to heat the plasma in its reactor, a process that requires a lot of energy. Furlong estimates that direct conversion is about 90% efficient, meaning it will convert 90% of the potential energy into electricity. By comparison, steam turbines in today’s fission reactors are about 33% efficient . The more energy the company is able to harvest, the quicker it will get to profitability. …