General Fusion builds Magnetized Target Fusion power plants that compress magnetized plasma with a liquid‑metal liner to produce neutron‑driven heat, which is transferred to steam turbines for carbon‑free baseload electricity. The liquid metal wall also breeds tritium and protects the vessel, allowing a simpler, lower‑cost design than laser or superconducting‑magnet fusion systems.
Funding
$21.6M raised to dateRaised to date based on public sources. This may differ from the amount the company actually raised and is based only on what is publicly available on the internet.
Founders
Product
Problem
Current baseload electricity generation relies on fossil fuels, nuclear reactors, or intermittent renewables, which either emit carbon, face safety concerns, or require extensive grid management. Existing fusion approaches use costly lasers or superconducting magnets, creating high capital costs and technical barriers that delay commercial deployment.
Solution
General Fusion develops Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) technology that creates fusion conditions by mechanically compressing a magnetized plasma within a liquid‑metal cavity. The liquid metal wall shields the vessel from neutron damage, breeds tritium fuel, and transfers fusion heat to a heat‑exchange system that drives steam turbines for electricity generation. By avoiding lasers and superconducting magnets, the approach reduces material costs and simplifies plant design, enabling a practical path to commercial, carbon‑free baseload power. The company’s Lawson Machine 26 (LM26) demonstration platform validates plasma formation, compression, and neutron yield at half‑scale, progressing toward the Lawson criterion and engineering breakeven by the mid‑2030s.
Target Audience
Primary customers are utility operators and large‑scale power producers seeking reliable, zero‑carbon baseload capacity, as well as industrial sites requiring on‑site steam and electricity generation.
Features
- Mechanical piston‑driven compression of a spherical liquid‑metal liner to achieve symmetric plasma implosion
- Integrated liquid lithium wall that simultaneously protects structural components, breeds tritium fuel, and serves as a heat‑transfer medium
- High‑performance plasma injector (PI3) delivering >10 ms energy confinement and plasma densities up to 6×10¹⁹ m⁻³
- Demonstrated neutron yields exceeding 600 million n/s and stable plasma behavior during compression
- Scalable heat‑exchange system that converts fusion‑generated heat to steam for turbine‑driven electricity
- Proprietary diagnostics and CFD‑validated compression models supporting rapid engineering iteration