Focused Energy plans laser fusion project at former Biblis nuclear plant

The decommissioned Biblis nuclear power plant in Germany may serve as a site for pioneering energy production through laser fusion. The Darmstadt-based company Focused Energy aims to build what could be the world’s first facility of its kind, utilizing laser technology to mimic the sun's process of fusing atomic nuclei rather than splitting them.

The proposed technical process involves a reactor sphere approximately 13 to 15 meters in diameter. Small fuel targets, consisting of a liquid mixture of tritium and deuterium cooled to minus 267 degrees Celsius, will be shot into the reactor at roughly 1.3 times the speed of sound. Approximately 1,200 lasers will then strike these targets, evaporating them into helium gas and generating neutrons. This reaction is expected to heat the reactor walls to around 500 degrees Celsius, providing sufficient heat for a heat exchanger to generate electricity.

Unlike traditional fission reactors, this fusion approach promises a continuous supply of inexpensive energy with significantly less nuclear waste.