A startup in Seattle is making waves — or rather, making light waves — with a new commercial-scale fusion technology testing facility, GeekWire reported.
Avalanche Energy recently received a $10 million grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce's Green Jobs Grant Program in order to launch its facility, which will be located in eastern Washington.
As GeekWire explained, the facility is a public-private partnership named FusionWERX that will share its research and development resources with government labs, universities, and private companies.
Avalanche is also developing its own fusion devices, which use tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, as a fuel. Company leaders shared that these devices will be able to support industries that include specialized medical treatments, advanced materials science, and nuclear power, GeekWire shared.
Nuclear fusion is an ambitious technology with massive potential. Fusion happens by combining two atomic nuclei into one, releasing huge amounts of energy in the process. It's the kind of energy that powers the sun — and researchers are looking to figure out how to recreate it and sustain it here on Earth.
"if nuclear fusion can be replicated on Earth at an industrial scale, it could provide virtually limitless clean, safe, and affordable energy to meet the world's demand," the International Atomic Energy Agency explained on its website.
Through FusionWERX, Avalanche Energy hopes to be part of that solution.
There are already several fusion-focused companies and organizations in the Pacific Northwest that not only are working to develop fusion power but also support its supply chain and production processes. Many of them have already expressed interest in becoming FusionWERX customers, including potential collaborations with the U.S. Department of Energy and Washington State University.
"By supporting Avalanche's FusionWERX facility, Washington is translating cutting-edge fusion science into family-wage jobs and a resilient clean-energy supply chain," said Joe Nguyen, the state's Department of Commerce director, in a press release. "It's exactly the kind of community-driven innovation our Green Jobs program exists to champion."
The facility is still in its design stages, with operations predicted to begin in 2027.
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