Fusion startups are striving to create power plants that produce more energy than they consume an ambitious goal that has never been achieved. However, a major obstacle in this pursuit is the availability of fuel. To generate tritium, a key ingredient for fusion, companies require a rare isotope of lithium that is currently in short supply.
Charlie Jerrott, a former employee of fusion startup Focused Energy, noticed that no company was tackling this crucial fuel supply issue. In response, he and his colleague Jacob Peterson launched Hexium, a company designed to solve the fuel challenge facing fusion power.
Hexium, now with $8 million in seed funding, leverages an established technology called atomic vapor laser isotope separation (AVLIS), developed by the U.S. Department of Energy in the 1980s for uranium isotope separation. After the Cold War, the technology was sidelined as uranium supplies became abundant. Hexium has repurposed this technique to sort lithium isotopes with precision.
By using lasers to selectively target lithium-6, Hexium is able to separate it from lithium-7. Lithium-6 is crucial for breeding tritium and safeguarding fusion reactors from radiation, while lithium-7 will be sold to nuclear reactor operators as a coolant additive.
With its seed funding, Hexium plans to build a pilot plant, which, if successful, will scale up to produce substantial amounts of lithium-6. The company aims to achieve efficient production in smaller, cost-effective facilities.
Hexium’s innovative approach addresses a vital gap in the fusion industry’s supply chain, offering the potential to revolutionize clean energy production.
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