Last week, First Light outlined details of a shift in its commercial strategy, underpinned by significant operational progress in its amplifier technology and recent scientific breakthroughs in inertial fusion energy globally.
In this exclusive interview, new CEO Mark Thomas discusses the strategy shift in more detail, detailing our ambitions to partner with other IFE companies, explaining how our amplifier technology will transform materials science research, and outlining our unwavering commitment to the commercialisation of fusion energy.
Hi Mark – tell us more about the announcement First Light made last week on its shift in strategy.
MT: Of course. Last Monday, we unveiled our renewed strategic focus and ambitions for the future of our business. It’s a shift in our commercial strategy, but also very much a natural evolution of the business as we move into our 14th year. The crux is: we are shifting to focus on partnering with other IFE companies where our unique amplifier technology can form a critical and complementary piece of a final, commercial fusion power plant.
This moves us away from the design and development of a First Light Pilot Power Plant based on a projectile approach, and instead will see us double down on our key competitive edge – our proprietary amplifier technology. It’s this groundbreaking piece of tech which we believe will ultimately enable a faster, simpler and cheaper path to commercial fusion power.
Is this a natural evolution for First Light or a response to a challenging and competitive market?
MT: This is a natural evolution in our strategy as a company, underpinned principally by two things: major developments in inertial fusion globally and significant operational progress here at First Light, particularly in the design, simulation and testing of our amplifier technology.
We are a privately funded company and, with that, comes the ability to be agile – to play to our strengths and respond to market shifts in pursuit of fusion. It’s a natural step in our journey to focus our efforts and resources on exploring the limits of our amplifier design, which will be a critical piece of an eventual commercial power plant.
Is First Light still committed to its mission and goal to commercialize fusion?
MT: Yes – our strategy has evolved but our commitment to the cause hasn’t. The only difference now is we believe there’s a faster, simpler and cheaper way of getting there, principally by contributing to power plant designs which leverage our amplifier technology alongside other technologies being developed by other inertial fusion companies.
How is this compatible with your move to work with non-fusion entities such as NASA?
MT: In addition to our continued focus on enabling commercial fusion, we will also partner with other companies and institutions where our amplifier technology can benefit important research in other fields and sectors beyond fusion, including space exploration, defence and materials research. The amplifier technology we have developed and patented enables other parties to reach pressures that wouldn’t otherwise be attainable, including on facilities like Sandia’s Z Machine. This proven capability will allow First Light to move to revenue generation ahead of original expectations.
Are your targets compatible with other approaches and drivers, other than high-velocity projectiles?
MT: Yes, one of the great things about our targets (amplifiers) are their compatibility with multiple driver approaches. Our targets can be used with any system to produce the required drive power whilst reducing the complexity of those driver schemes. We design our target technology to be compatible with a range of drivers, including gas guns, lasers, direct electrical connection and ion drive. The First Light team has a world-class understanding of these systems, through simulation and real experimental testing. We are conducting shots on gas guns and pulse power machines (including the second largest in the world) at our facility in the UK on an almost daily basis.
There has been a lot of progress in inertial fusion, but what fundamental challenges remain between where we are today and reaching commercial fusion in the next 10-15 years?
MT: We should all be heartened by the progress made across the fusion industry in the last few years. In inertial fusion, the result by the National Ignition Facility in December 2022 when it demonstrated ‘Ignition’, was a major scientific milestone. What that success proved to the world was that the physics of inertial fusion really does work.
However, there are still significant challenges to overcome in the pursuit of commercially-scalable fusion energy. These are principally engineering challenges – i.e. how we can take the physics of what NIF did and replicate that at scale in a practical, reliable and cost effective way.
We believe our innovative amplifier technology will transform how we collectively solve those challenges. That’s what excites me most about the future of our business.
What benefits will this strategy shift provide to the wider fusion sector?
MT: We believe our technology is complementary to a number of existing inertial fusion approaches and, if leveraged as part of them, will transform and expediate the path to commercial fusion. That’s the real benefit of our technology for the wider inertial fusion sector – that ultimately it will help the industry deliver scalable fusion energy faster.
Do you think fusion is attainable in the time we need it?
MT: Yes, without a doubt. We definitely don’t underestimate the challenges that lie ahead, which are undoubtedly incredibly complex. However, it is undeniable fact that the rate of progress in our sector is increasing at a rapid pace, and more investors and Governments are doubling down on fusion investment than ever before. There is a sense of optimism and momentum across the industry, which I really believe will lead us to see another inflection point in our progress towards the commercial fusion industry within the next five years.
Final question, is fusion still a race, and if so where is the UK within that?
MT: The only race is the one against time – in the context of an urgent global need to decarbonise. It is clear to me that there’s no reason why multiple fusion approaches can’t all be deployed and scaled eventually. This is not a winner-takes-all market, because the need for energy security is so considerable. Ultimately, we all win when we are able to transform our energy system with fusion.
The UK is in a unique position of having a Government-backed fusion programme and leading private approaches in both inertial fusion and magnetic confinement fusion. Complacency and inertia are the only risk to this, which is why we’re pleased to see the new Government making positive noises on its commitment to fusion. There’s lots to be feel optimistic about – the fusion sector is strengthening every day and the UK’s contribution remains significant. With the right support and momentum, we are still very much in a position to be a global fusion leader.
