Posted on 07/01/2026 8:34:16 PM PDT by Red Badger
This hybrid design offsets the energy required to initiate and sustain the plasma. - Realta Fusion
============================================================
An experimental fusion reactor in Madison, Wisconsin, has achieved a technical milestone by converting plasma energy directly into usable electricity for the first time in the private sector. The successful trial used the Wisconsin HTS Axisymmetric Mirror, a research device operated alongside the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The newly developed hardware drew multiple amperes of electrical current at an electrical potential of roughly 100 volts. It produced enough output to illuminate several incandescent light bulbs.
Realta Fusion, the company developing this magnetic mirror fusion technology, announced the achievement publicly as a major breakthrough for commercial power development.
Kieran Furlong, the chief executive officer of Realta Fusion, noted that while the concept has long been a subject of theoretical discussion in the industry, this test represents the initial practical application of the method on an operational fusion device by a private firm.
The mechanism relies on a direct energy converter positioned at one terminus of the magnetic mirror apparatus. As moving, electrically charged particles arrive at this end of the device, the converter forces them to decelerate. This deceleration process creates an electrical potential difference, which subsequently forces a current to flow through the connected circuit.
Technical feasibility for future projections
This approach eliminates the requirement for conventional thermal systems, like steam turbines, to extract power from that specific segment of the plasma energy. Company officials clarified that the test serves as an initial validation of the engineering concept rather than a complete power production mechanism.
Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Derek Sutherland stated that the trial proves the physics of the process at a visible scale, but does not represent a net-positive energy return or a full-scale commercial output. He indicated that larger generation targets remain objectives for the next iterations of their machinery.
The incorporation of direct energy conversion is intended to enhance the net productivity of future commercial installations. The company aims to deploy its first generation of modular power plants during the middle decade of the 2030s. Engineering plans suggest that these future facilities will split their generation methods.
Traditional thermal cycles, which convert heat into mechanical rotation, will process four-fifths (80%) of the total fusion energy at an operational efficiency limit of 45%. The final fifth (20%) of the energy will pass through the electrical converter, which is projected to function at an efficiency level exceeding 90%.
This hybrid configuration is designed to neutralize the internal power demands required to initiate and maintain the hot plasma environment. By recovering this energy, the design aims to improve the final balance of power and decrease the subsequent retail cost of the electricity by a margin between ten and twenty percent.
To design modular mirror reactors
The foundational physics for this approach dates back to 1974, when Dr. Richard Post first detailed the mechanism at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Publicly funded laboratories and universities have constructed similar systems a few times over the subsequent decades.
Notable historical test configurations include the design known as the Venetian blind converter built during the 1970s, the Tandem Mirror Experiment of the 1980s, and the GAMMA 10 device tested in Japan in 2008.
The recent trial in Wisconsin marks the initial instance where a private corporation managed to interface such a converter with an active fusion plasma. Realta Fusion plans to continue using these results to design its line of modular mirror reactors.
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
Ping!...............
Designs... plans...
Give us a grant.
Helion energy out of Washington state is also converting fusion directly into electricity. They have a contract with Microsoft to start delivering from a plant they have been building in Washington state in 2028.
Solar and wind were supposed to “lower electricity costs.” How’s that working?
decrease the subsequent retail cost of the electricity by a margin between ten and twenty percent.
What is the net effect?
In before Back to the Future reference.
Go you Badgers, Go!
“Solar and wind were supposed to “lower electricity costs.” How’s that working?”
You are so out of the loop.
Texas has more wind and solar than any other state on a per capita basis.
Our wholesale price on ERCOT goes negative may times for half a day or more. From 0840 to 1740 today in ERCOT there was so much more expensive wind that the whole Hub went to ZERO or negative per megawatt hour. The whole ERCOT grid was in the $20-30 range all day too that’s 2-3 cents per kwh. It don’t get much cheaper than that.
Natural gas needs 11 million BTU per megawatt hour minimum in the best combined cycle gas turbines gas is $3 per million BTU you do the math. Fuel cost alone means gas turbines cannot touch $20 per megawatt hour they would be running at a loss.
Learn facts before you post nonsense.
DateTime Real-Time Hub Avg. Real-Time
2026-07-01 00:15:00 28.36 28.36
2026-07-01 00:30:00 28.04 28.04
2026-07-01 00:45:00 30.07 30.07
2026-07-01 01:00:00 26.48 26.48
2026-07-01 01:15:00 24.82 24.82
2026-07-01 01:30:00 24.63 24.63
2026-07-01 01:45:00 23.78 23.78
2026-07-01 02:00:00 24.27 24.27
2026-07-01 02:15:00 24.18 24.18
2026-07-01 02:30:00 24.31 18.11
2026-07-01 02:45:00 24.39 10.63
2026-07-01 03:00:00 24.77 15.52
2026-07-01 03:15:00 26.74 5.18
2026-07-01 03:30:00 25.65 10.55
2026-07-01 03:45:00 25.05 23.05
2026-07-01 04:00:00 25.34 15.58
2026-07-01 04:15:00 24.96 24.96
2026-07-01 04:30:00 23.92 23.92
2026-07-01 04:45:00 24.01 24.01
2026-07-01 05:00:00 24.57 24.57
2026-07-01 05:15:00 23.35 23.35
2026-07-01 05:30:00 23.05 23.05
2026-07-01 05:45:00 23.37 23.37
2026-07-01 06:00:00 23.81 23.81
2026-07-01 06:15:00 23.3 23.3
2026-07-01 06:30:00 22.83 22.83
2026-07-01 06:45:00 22.49 22.49
2026-07-01 07:00:00 21.79 21.79
2026-07-01 07:15:00 22.4 22.4
2026-07-01 07:30:00 20.95 20.95
2026-07-01 07:45:00 17.69 17.69
2026-07-01 08:00:00 14.13 8.09
2026-07-01 08:15:00 13.2 2.32
2026-07-01 08:30:00 12.87 -0.13
2026-07-01 08:45:00 12.3 -1.05
2026-07-01 09:00:00 12.1 -2.41
2026-07-01 09:15:00 12.43 -2.68
2026-07-01 09:30:00 12.04 -4.28
2026-07-01 09:45:00 13.06 -4.15
2026-07-01 10:00:00 12.93 -3.41
2026-07-01 10:15:00 14.14 -2.48
2026-07-01 10:30:00 15.33 -2.27
2026-07-01 10:45:00 14.9 -2.01
2026-07-01 11:00:00 14.7 -1.78
2026-07-01 11:15:00 15.23 -1.14
2026-07-01 11:30:00 14.23 -0.92
2026-07-01 11:45:00 15.07 -0.42
2026-07-01 12:00:00 17.13 -0.22
2026-07-01 12:15:00 16.73 -0.12
2026-07-01 12:30:00 15.14 -0.17
2026-07-01 12:45:00 14.15 -0.12
2026-07-01 13:00:00 14.76 -0.07
2026-07-01 13:15:00 14.78 0.11
2026-07-01 13:30:00 18.2 0.17
2026-07-01 13:45:00 19.84 0.48
2026-07-01 14:00:00 20.19 3.2
2026-07-01 14:15:00 19.56 0.63
2026-07-01 14:30:00 21.43 0.63
2026-07-01 14:45:00 25.22 2.45
2026-07-01 15:00:00 25.32 0.88
2026-07-01 15:15:00 24.29 2.01
2026-07-01 15:30:00 27.55 2.72
2026-07-01 15:45:00 26.74 0.18
2026-07-01 16:00:00 27.73 -0.54
2026-07-01 16:15:00 28.88 -1.14
2026-07-01 16:30:00 30.17 -0.67
2026-07-01 16:45:00 28.6 -1.97
2026-07-01 17:00:00 27.24 -2.55
2026-07-01 17:15:00 29.26 -2.08
2026-07-01 17:30:00 26.55 -1.46
2026-07-01 17:45:00 25.63 0.05
2026-07-01 18:00:00 27.01 1.15
2026-07-01 18:15:00 26.49 0.5
2026-07-01 18:30:00 28.08 1.61
2026-07-01 18:45:00 29.54 3.02
2026-07-01 19:00:00 36.6 17.21
2026-07-01 19:15:00 31.37 30.49
2026-07-01 19:30:00 36.59 33.65
2026-07-01 19:45:00 41.65 41.55
2026-07-01 20:00:00 45.86 46.13
2026-07-01 20:15:00 42.98 43.25
2026-07-01 20:30:00 42.92 43.14
2026-07-01 20:45:00 44.24 44.32
2026-07-01 21:00:00 44.4 44.41
2026-07-01 21:15:00 46.12 46.13
2026-07-01 21:30:00 48.55 48.56
2026-07-01 21:45:00 52.13 52.13
2026-07-01 22:00:00 48.12 48.12
2026-07-01 22:15:00 66.13 66.13
2026-07-01 22:30:00 52.29 52.29
2026-07-01 22:45:00 43 43
2026-07-01 23:00:00 34.1 34.1
2026-07-01 23:15:00 30.32 30.32
2026-07-02 00:00:00
^^^^^^This is real time data from the government mandated grid op manager.
Another revolutionary fusion milestone? Man I’ve been hearing that same story since 1995.
I may be out of the loop, but my electric bill keeps going up. With all the tax $$ thrown down the wind/solar sinkhole, it should be free all the time.
Pons and Fleischmann again?
The more I read of the condescending GenX, the less I am impressed.
Plasma Energy, with added crystal pyramid power fields!!!
Bookmark
And they may.
I have pictures from their break even party I accidentally crashed.
Texas is hot and dry and windy, more than any other state, and there is plenty of land unsuitable for habitation. Other states need power too and solar wont work in most of them.
FOCUS Fusion from LPPFUSION has been working on a low-cost design that shows real promise to reduce electricity costs using aneutronic fusion using the hot, dense plasmoid produced by their dense plasma focus (DPF) device to fuse hydrogen-boron fuel.
They are doing everything on a shoestring.
“Man I’ve been hearing that same story since 1995.”
I’ve been hearing since the 70’s starting with Lyndon LaRouche. Always about 20 years down the road.
Texas is hot and dry and windy, more than any other state, and there is plenty of land unsuitable for habitation. Other states need power too and solar wont work in most of them.
Natural gas is $3 per 1mm btu. 3400 btu is one kWh. So with gas you get about 300 kWh for $3 , or .01 dollars per kWh. We pay 20 times that for electricity but wind and solar are not going to help that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.