Seattle startup Avalanche Energy plans to open a first-of-its-kind facility for commercial-scale testing of radioactive fusion technologies in Eastern Washington.
The envisioned center, called FusionWERX, is a public-private partnership offering shared resources to universities, companies, and government labs in an effort to support fusion power producers and the sector’s supply chain. It aims to be one of the most advanced private-sector operations for handling tritium, a radioactive hydrogen isotope.
Robin Langtry, co-founder and CEO of Avalanche, compares the idea to the shared Lockheed Martin high-speed wind tunnel that he had access to when testing aerodynamic designs as a Blue Origin employee.
“There’s a really interesting model here,” Langtry said, that can spread costs among participants.
And the Pacific Northwest could be a good spot for such a resource. The region has established itself as a fusion hub with companies that include Avalanche, Zap Energy, Helion Energy, Kyoto Fusioneering, Altrusion and ExoFusion in Washington state, and General Fusion in British Columbia.
Fusion energy is created by smashing atoms together that fuse and release power — it’s the same reaction that fuels the Sun. Engineers can create fusion, but the challenge is capturing more energy from the system than it takes to generate the conditions needed for fusion to happen.
Avalanche is developing compact fusion devices that use tritium as a fuel, with a focus on space applications, driven in part by a Pentagon contract to develop nuclear-powered prototypes.
“We always thought of ourselves as a space and defense fusion approach first, and then, as we perfect the technology, we’re going to move into clean energy,” Langtry said. “You’re seeing a huge amount of interest and funding go into defense and space companies.”
FusionWERX will take over an existing facility in the Tri-Cities town of Richland, Wash., which is home to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The building was previously licensed for tritium operations and the new effort’s plans include blanket and shielding test beds, hot cells for handling radioactive materials, and systems for extracting, purifying and recycling tritium.
The site could also be used to produce radioisotopes for medical and space applications.
Langtry said they’re putting together private and public funding to build out the site, and expect to start construction this summer. He did not share cost estimates. About 15 Avalanche employees will be involved in the effort.
The region’s leaders have welcomed the initiative.
“Just as the United States chose the Tri-Cities to build the first fission reactor in 1943, we are overjoyed that Avalanche Energy will build the first-of-a-kind FusionWERX commercial-scale testbed in our region,” said Karl Dye, president and CEO of the Tri-Cities Development Council, in a statement.
The startup is looking for customers and partners whose work will compliment Avalanche’s research. The cost for using the facility could be an hourly fee.
Avalanche has raised $50 million from investors that include Chris Sacca’s Lowercarbon Capital, Founders Fund, Toyota Ventures, Azolla Ventures and others. It has received $8 million in government grants and contracts, and has 50 employees.