Fusion energy and beyond

At First Light Fusion, our cutting-edge technological capabilities have enormous potential not just for fusion, but for a range of other sectors and research appliances as well. Enabling commercial fusion is our core focus, but our world-class facilities and software have applications across everything from defence to space, healthcare, robotics and more.

Pulsed power machines

Our pulsed power machines help scientists study the behaviour of matter under extreme temperatures, pressures and densities.

This is critical for understanding the physics of inertial fusion energy. However, our pulsed power machines can be used in numerous fields beyond fusion too. Scientists can investigate astrophysical phenomena and explore the behaviour of critical materials when put under intense pressure. The machines can also be used for weapons testing and engineering research. They also have broader applications in medicine and industry, including X-ray generation for medical imaging, sterilisation of food and medical equipment and enabling material processing techniques like pulsed laser deposition and plasma spraying.

Gas guns

Our First Light Fusion gas guns are among the most powerful in the UK. They work by converting the energy released from an ignited propellant into the compression of a light gas, usually hydrogen. This produces gas pressures approximately 10,000 times atmospheric pressure which then launches a projectile at incredible speed.

While this is a core part of the fusion process, this cutting-edge technology can also be helpful in other fields, including shock ignition, defence and space research. Our gas guns are particularly helpful for monitoring experiments in ‘real time’ rather than only looking at the result after a test.

Our amplifier technology also enables us to achieve pressures on other gas guns and pulsed power machines, outside of the FLF lab, that our peers would not otherwise be able to reach. This has the potential to enable more thorough testing of ballistic shielding of satellites, armour testing against hypersonic missiles, planetary astrophysics and much more. Our amplifers have unlocked a new level of research capability that can be leveraged for other vital areas of research and development.

Simulation capability

Simulations are used to understand the impact of fundamental processes and the interaction between subsystems without the need to run expensive experiments or system tests. Simulations also allow scientists to obtain a deeper understanding of these interactions and processes than could ever be observed directly in real world experiments. The knowledge acquired from simulations helps us to predict and improve on the outcomes of experiments and engineering design. It also enhances our overall understanding of experimental results themselves.

By coupling our simulation capabilities with cutting-edge data science and machine learning techniques, we can massively accelerate time between simulations and real-life experiments. Full fidelity simulations are also used to inform and improve the accuracy of reduced models. 

Our simulations can be adapted and applied to high energy dynamic processes in a range of sectors, including:

  • Civil space
  • Defence
  • Civil nuclear
  • Mining
  • Healthcare
  • Veterinary science
  • Oil and gas
  • Nuclear fusion
  • Geophysics
  • Astrophysical hydrodynamic

All of our First Light codes and models are highly flexible, meaning they can easily be used by third parties and applied to products and processes outside of our First Light lab. If you’re interested in knowing more about how you can use our industry-leading simulation capabilities, get in touch.