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Frequently asked questions
CLEAR ANSWERS ABOUT FUSION POWER AND OUR APPROACH
What is fusion?
Fusion is the process the stars and the sun use to make energy.
Fusion occurs when two atoms combine under intense heat and pressure. The products have less mass than the original two atoms. In accordance with E=Δmc², energy is released in the process.
Fusion is the opposite of fission, where a heavy atom, like uranium, splits apart and releases energy.
Our fusion power is fueled by isotopes of hydrogen and helium. It does not produce greenhouse gases or have a risk of chain reactions.
What is different about Helion's approach?
The founders of Helion believe that fusion isn’t a fundamental physics problem, but an engineering problem that will be solved by building, testing, and iterating fusion systems and subsystems. By focusing on our true goal - clean, safe, and abundant electricity - we can approach fusion from a new angle.
Our approach does three major things differently from other fusion approaches:
- We utilize a pulsed, non-ignition fusion system. This helps us overcome the hardest physics challenges, build highly energy-efficient systems, and allows us to adjust the power output based on need by adjusting the pulse rate.
- Our system is built to directly recover electricity. Just like regenerative braking in an electric car, our system is built to recover all unused and new electromagnetic energy efficiently. Other fusion systems rely on heating water to create steam to turn a turbine which loses a lot of energy in the process.
- We use deuterium and helium-3 (D-He-3) as fuel. Deuterium-helium-3 fusion results in charged particles that can be directly recaptured as electricity. This helps keep our system small and efficient, allowing us to build faster and at a lower cost. This fuel cycle also reduces neutron emissions, substantially reducing many of the engineering challenges faced by users of deuterium-tritium fusion fuel.
Is fusion safe?
Yes. Helion’s fusion approach has no possibility of creating a chain reaction, and the machine shuts off instantly in any off-normal scenario. There is no risk of a runaway chain reaction.
Helion’s fusion generators will produce a manageable amount of radiation while they run. Helion uses commercially available shielding materials (e.g., concrete) to limit the amount of radiation that leaves the vicinity of the machine. When the machine is off, that radiation stops.
And, because Helion generators use only small amounts of fuel at any given time, any potential impacts would be inherently limited, generally remaining on site and well within regulatory protections for the surrounding community.
How will Helion measure electricity production from fusion?
Helion measures electricity production using custom electrical diagnostics that track energy in our system before and after each pulse. These diagnostics, installed on each of our bank sub-units, measure capacitor voltage with high precision and, when combined with per-unit capacitance data collected during assembly of the bank, provide an accurate picture of energy changes from each pulse.
The key proof point is showing that a portion of the energy returned to a subsystem’s capacitor bank came from fusion-driven plasma expansion, rather than only from ordinary inductive coupling in the circuit.