Avalanche creates a desktop-sized fusion reactor

Until now, no one has been able to create a fusion reactor capable of generating energy, but physicists have a clear plan to reach this goal. A key milestone is heating fusion fuel to 10 million degrees Celsius, which is nearly the temperature at the center of the Sun. The startup Avalanche exclusively told TechCrunch that its desktop-sized prototype surpassed this figure, managing to heat plasma to approximately 11 million degrees. This is reported by Techcrunch.com news.

Only a few companies worldwide have achieved such a result. While most fusion startups have spent vast sums to reach this milestone, Avalanche claims it achieved this with less than $50 million in venture investment. Plasma physicists measure temperature not with a thermometer, but by studying particle energy using the kEV (kiloelectron-volt) unit. Experts believe that a figure above 1 kEV is a serious result that attracts global attention.

Plasma temperature is one of the key variables in evaluating fusion experiments. If the plasma does not heat up enough, the probability of particles colliding and forming new atoms decreases. But if the plasma is sufficiently hot, dense, and stable, a fusion reaction occurs, releasing a massive amount of energy. This success is not yet a complete victory, but it indicates that the startup is on the path to producing more energy than is consumed in its reactor.

Avalanche's small-scale prototypes show that fusion energy can work on a smaller scale than competitors thought. Most startups are designing large reactors that produce tens or hundreds of megawatts of electricity. If Avalanche can create a compact and cheaper device, it could become a serious competitor to many technologies, from diesel generators to natural gas turbines.

Although the company has not yet published the results in scientific journals, it stated that the report was verified by an MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) physicist. While most reactors are massive structures, Avalanche chose a small size because compact devices are easier to iterate. The fusion core of the startup's latest device, named Jyn, is only five inches in diameter.