A Simpler Path to Commercial Fusion Energy
At First Light Fusion, we create technology which will sit at the heart of the world’s first inertial fusion power plants.
Our IFE concept offers a less capital-intensive route to a viable power plant, by reducing the driver requirements.
Target Design - The Key Technology
According to McKinsey, the fusion market could be worth more than $1T per year by 2050.
A target design dominates the economics of inertial fusion energy. It dictates the choice and specification of all the key fusion-specific components, and by varying the yield per shot (and hence the required repetition rate) allows optimisation of Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) plant performance.
Others in the field are designing targets for high power drivers such as lasers and multi-megavolt pulsed power drivers, looking at high rep rate systems to address the challenge of low gain targets.
As our targets add value to the system, utilising low power drivers that reduce capital costs, and enabling higher gain with smart fuel assembly systems, we have estimated that they will be worth at least 20% value of the fusion energy market.
Partnering with Us
At First Light Fusion, we also have multiple unique tool sets, including simulation codes, data science and machine learning capabilities. These are applicable across different IFE approaches – creating an advantage for the partners who work with us.
Our facilities in Oxford house the largest pulsed power driver in Europe, as well as the largest two-stage light gas gun in the UK. Our extensive suite of diagnostics allow us to better understand our experiments and inform our simulation tools.
First Light’s leading experimental capabilities mean that organisations around the world collaborate with us on leading scientific experiments.
Commercial fusion will not be delivered by one company alone. We are committed to partnering and collaborating with other fusion companies, research institutions, governments, engineering companies, and established energy companies in pursuit of fusion. Together we can deliver the last clean energy source the world needs.