--- title: Is nuclear fusion (finally) here? - The Hustle description: Helion Energy raised $500m (with $350m coming from Sam Altman) to create a workable nuclear fusion reactor. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1257663622-News-Brief_2021-11-09T061058.459Z.webp --- # Is nuclear fusion (finally) here? ![Trung T. Phan](https://thehustle.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Image-from-iOS-300x300.jpg?width=48&height=48&name=Image-from-iOS-300x300.jpg) [Trung T. Phan](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/trung-t-phan) [Trung T. Phan Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/TrungTPhan) Published: November 09, 2021 Updated: October 11, 2023 When it comes to clean and abundant energy, nuclear fusion tops many people’s wish list. ![Is nuclear fusion (finally) here?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1257663622-News-Brief_2021-11-09T061058.459Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1257663622-News-Brief_2021-11-09T061058.459Z.webp) The science hasn’t been cracked yet, though, and the running joke is that nuclear fusion has been 30 years away for 50 years. Things may soon change: Helion Energy just raised $500m to bring the fusion technology to market, per [*CNBC*](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/05/sam-altman-puts-375-million-into-fusion-start-up-helion-energy.html). #### **How does nuclear fusion work?** The existing nuclear industry is built on fission, where an atom is split into 2 smaller atoms and energy is released. Conversely, fusion creates energy by smashing 2 smaller atoms into a larger one. (There’s one salient example of this type of energy creation: It’s called the sun.) According to *CNBC*, Helion will use the funding to build a nuclear facility in Washington state that can “demonstrate net electricity production by 2024.” #### **Nuclear fusion has a number of advantages…** … according to [ITER](https://www.iter.org/sci/Fusion), an international nuclear fusion research: - **Abundant: **Fusion can produce 4x as much energy as nuclear fission - **Sustainable:** Fusion fuels are available and renewable (e.g., deuterium can be distilled from water) - **No CO2: **Fusion doesn’t emit carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases - **Limited risk of proliferation:** Fusion doesn’t require uranium or plutonium, which are needed for fission reactors (and have the dual-use case of nuclear weapons) - **No meltdown risk:** The fuel used at any time to operate a fusion reactor isn’t enough for a runaway chain reaction #### **How is Helion different from previous fusion efforts?** The startup’s CEO David Kirtley says its approach applies advances in electronics, fiber optics, and computers not used in older reactors. The result: smaller systems that are easier to iterate on. One big believer: Sam Altman — the former president of startup incubator YC and co-founder of OpenAI — personally put $350m into the funding round. If it works, we can finally put the “30 years away for 50 years” joke to rest. 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