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10.27.2020

CFS Awarded U.S. Department of Energy Grants in Collaboration with National Labs

Cambridge, MA – October 27, 2020 – Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), a startup commercializing fusion energy, has been awarded three grants in collaboration with U.S. National Labs through the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fusion Energy Science’s (FES) Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) program to conduct research critical to the development of commercial fusion energy. CFS was one of six successful applicants to this round of the INFUSE program, which awarded 10 projects in total.

Now in its second year, the INFUSE program funds U.S. National Labs to work with private companies on research and development toward commercial fusion and is an example of a new public-private funding approach gaining currency in the fusion community. CFS received the following awards in the first of two 2020 INFUSE rounds:

  • Baselining a tritium accountancy and safety case for a molten salt liquid immersion fusion blanket, Commonwealth Fusion Systems and Idaho National Labs
  • SPARC 3D field physics and support of the non-axisymmetric coil assessment, Commonwealth Fusion Systems and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
  • Advanced manufacturing workflows for tokamak internal components, Commonwealth Fusion Systems and Oak Ridge National Laboratory

CFS is collaborating with MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center to design and build SPARC, the world’s first net-energy fusion device. This includes the development of groundbreaking high temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets which will allow CFS to build significantly smaller and lower-cost fusion power plants. This collaboration is on track to demonstrate a successful 20 Tesla large-bore magnet in 2021. This magnet, the first of its kind, represents a transformational opportunity for fusion energy. Magnets of this type will be used in SPARC to demonstrate net energy gain from fusion for the first time. SPARC will pave the way for the first commercially viable fusion power plant, called ARC.

About CFS

CFS is on track to bring fusion energy technology to market. CFS was spun out of MIT and combines the decades of research experience of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center with the innovation and speed of the private sector. Supported by the world’s leading investors in breakthrough energy technologies, the CFS team is uniquely positioned to deliver the fastest path to commercial fusion energy.

For more information:

Kristen Cullen

Kristen@cfs.energy