Helion Energy to demonstrate net electricity production by 2024

[jrvz]

Hmm. So I guess the strategy is to use D-D to tune the device for the right plasma conditions (e.g. triple product), then D-He3 and further tuning to maximize the fusion, then yet more tuning to maximize the direct energy out. Hopefully that will demonstrate net electricity production. It seems to me that if D-T is expected to cause damage, it would only make sense to try that if the effort with D-He3 fails. I.e., they'd be demonstrating a path to net energy production, with the caveat that they'd need to redesign to allow for a thermal cycle and more neutron damage.

[Munchausen]

Hmm. So I guess the strategy is to use D-D to tune the device for the right plasma conditions (e.g. triple product), then D-He3 and further tuning to maximize the fusion, then yet more tuning to maximize the direct energy out. Hopefully that will demonstrate net electricity production. It seems to me that if D-T is expected to cause damage, it would only make sense to try that if the effort with D-He3 fails. I.e., they'd be demonstrating a path to net energy production, with the caveat that they'd need to redesign to allow for a thermal cycle and more neutron damage.

What else can they do? There is no He3 to buy so they have to make it themselves from the D-D reaction. There are two possible D-D reactions with the same crossection with only one of them producing He3. So they need two D-D reactions to get one He3. The question has been pondered somewhat earlier in the thread and a claim has been made that the machine to some extent can be tweaked towards making more of the desired reaction. Or perhabs that He3 can be produced in dedicated machines.

May it be as it will with that. They will still have to run the machine with a net energy deficit for an unknown period to produce enough of the fuel they need.

The other reaction produces trititum which eventually will decay into He3. In the long run that may contribute to a more robust fuel cycle. But at the time being the Helion Company will have to prove not only positive net energy from D-He3 but also a credible fuel cycle arrangement.

[mvanwink5]

At this time I would not be surprised if D-D is run & extrapolation is used to claim net electric once He3 is available.

[Skipjack]

What else can they do? There is no He3 to buy so they have to make it themselves from the D-D reaction.

This is not quite correct. There is He3 to buy. It costs 20,000 USD/gram. Not economic for power plants, but does not matter for tests.

May it be as it will with that. They will still have to run the machine with a net energy deficit for an unknown period to produce enough of the fuel they need.

The original task for Polaris (back when, it was meant to be smaller and cheaper) was to just demonstrate He3 production and maybe Qsci > 1 with D-T in a last "Hail Mary" campaign. When they found out that the Chinese were working on (a) clone(s), the investors accelerated development and skipped that step. Polaris got a bit bigger and a bit stronger as a result.
Now Polaris will demonstrate the production of He3 (and Tritium) and it will demonstrate that it can put more electrons back into the caps.
That said, their fuel cycle will be such that they can get away with just one He3 every three reactions. So, they will be optimized for less D-He3 and more D-D. Helion's systems can balance between higher density and lower temps or higher temps and lower density almost linearly (within a certain range, I think). D-D favors the former, D-He3, the latter. The composition of the fuel mix helps too.
As for the energy deficit. That is another big question. If their input energy recovery works as they expect, then the deficit will be tiny. Itmight even just about break even or be just barely net positive in a full scale power plant.

But at the time being the Helion Company will have to prove not only positive net energy from D-He3 but also a credible fuel cycle arrangement.

See above. Polaris will demo that. The facility has its own lab space for that. To be honest, I don't really see that as that big of a challenge. The fact that D-D reactions produce He3 and Tritium is very much established science. If they can get enough D-D reactions, then they have the He3.
One interesting angle (and I mentioned that before) is that they could sell the Tritium and potentially make a lot more than they would from burning the He3 that it decays into.

There is another interesting angle that I have discovered, but I am going to file a patent for that. So, I am not going to mention it in public.

[Skipjack]

Hmm. So I guess the strategy is to use D-D to tune the device for the right plasma conditions (e.g. triple product), then D-He3 and further tuning to maximize the fusion, then yet more tuning to maximize the direct energy out. Hopefully that will demonstrate net electricity production. It seems to me that if D-T is expected to cause damage, it would only make sense to try that if the effort with D-He3 fails. I.e., they'd be demonstrating a path to net energy production, with the caveat that they'd need to redesign to allow for a thermal cycle and more neutron damage.

D-T is expected to cause some damage and also make the machine (more) radioactive, making service more difficult. They will still do it either way because they can and doing high Q fusion is fun

[Skipjack]

At this time I would not be surprised if D-D is run & extrapolation is used to claim net electric once He3 is available.

Nope! They already have the He3 for the D-He3 campaign.

[Munchausen]

What else can they do? There is no He3 to buy so they have to make it themselves from the D-D reaction.

This is not quite correct. There is He3 to buy. It costs 20,000 USD/gram. Not economic for power plants, but does not matter for tests.

May it be as it will with that. They will still have to run the machine with a net energy deficit for an unknown period to produce enough of the fuel they need.

The original task for Polaris (back when, it was meant to be smaller and cheaper) was to just demonstrate He3 production and maybe Qsci > 1 with D-T in a last "Hail Mary" campaign. When they found out that the Chinese were working on (a) clone(s), the investors accelerated development and skipped that step. Polaris got a bit bigger and a bit stronger as a result.
Now Polaris will demonstrate the production of He3 (and Tritium) and it will demonstrate that it can put more electrons back into the caps.
That said, their fuel cycle will be such that they can get away with just one He3 every three reactions. So, they will be optimized for less D-He3 and more D-D. Helion's systems can balance between higher density and lower temps or higher temps and lower density almost linearly (within a certain range, I think). D-D favors the former, D-He3, the latter. The composition of the fuel mix helps too.
As for the energy deficit. That is another big question. If their input energy recovery works as they expect, then the deficit will be tiny. Itmight even just about break even or be just barely net positive in a full scale power plant.

But at the time being the Helion Company will have to prove not only positive net energy from D-He3 but also a credible fuel cycle arrangement.

See above. Polaris will demo that. The facility has its own lab space for that. To be honest, I don't really see that as that big of a challenge. The fact that D-D reactions produce He3 and Tritium is very much established science. If they can get enough D-D reactions, then they have the He3.
One interesting angle (and I mentioned that before) is that they could sell the Tritium and potentially make a lot more than they would from burning the He3 that it decays into.

There is another interesting angle that I have discovered, but I am going to file a patent for that. So, I am not going to mention it in public.

Thanks for clarifications! Very, very interesting to follow.

It takes some time to get used to the logics of this machine. As I understand it, at 95 % electricity recovery you only need 5 % energy addition from the fusion reactions to get to break even.

Net positive Qengineering is a lot less than traditionally defined net positive Qscientific.

It also explains the massive cable arrangements inside the machine. At 95 % energy recovery it will have to handle powers 20 times the nominal output of the machine. Gigawatt scale powers in a 50 megawatt output machine.

This article by David Kirtley explains it very well but doesn't quite hit the nail pedagogically:

https://www.helionenergy.com/articles/h ... -ignition/

[mvanwink5]

Nope! They already have the He3 for the D-He3 campaign.

Wow! Eliminates doubters. 2025 fingers crossed, tsunami approaching fast.

[Skipjack]

Nope! They already have the He3 for the D-He3 campaign.

Wow! Eliminates doubters. 2025 fingers crossed, tsunami approaching fast.

Cost of He3 is peanuts compared to the other costs they are incurring.

[mvanwink5]

Nope! They already have the He3 for the D-He3 campaign.

Wow! Eliminates doubters. 2025 fingers crossed, tsunami approaching fast.

Cost of He3 is peanuts compared to the other costs they are incurring.

Looks like big efforts to improve Fusion Electric Plant production costs, speed of production, simplification (capacitor, cabling). Helion is focusing on commercial rollout. Would like to see results of testing, we are heading into September, Maple Tree leaves are falling.

[Skipjack]

Latest Helion Newsletter is out!

HelionCapBank.jpg (107.09 KiB) Viewed 1661 times

2025 is moving fast here in Everett, and I am continuously inspired by the momentum across the team. We’re testing Polaris as we build out additional subsystems for full power operations in Ursa, optimizing our production capacity in Antares, and we’ve started building on the site of Orion, the world’s first fusion power plant.

Some recent highlights:

Building the world’s first fusion power plant: Orion

We’ve officially started building in Malaga, Washington, after receiving a positive determination on the site’s environmental review, fulfilling a step toward our PPA with Microsoft. This follows over a year of collaboration with state and local stakeholders and the wider community, with agencies having determined that Orion will have minimal environmental impacts. Starting earthwork on the world’s first fusion power plant keeps us on track to deliver fusion electricity to Microsoft in 2028. Let’s get to building!

Polaris is now fully licensed for D-T fusion 

We received final approval from the Washington State Department of Health to operate Polaris with D-T fuel —marking the first time a private fusion company has received a license to perform D-T fusion. We’ll test Polaris with three fuel mixtures on our path to commercialization: D-D, D-T, and D-He-3. Any machine that generates radiation, whether it's a hospital CT scanner or a particle accelerator, needs this kind of approval. This one clears the way for safe D-T fusion in Polaris and sets a precedent for our future commercial systems.

Commissioning an environmental scrubber

Polaris operations are supported by a new air scrubber system outside of Ursa. The system includes a ventilation setup that maintains negative pressure in the vault, shielding, and a scrubber that converts elements and filters the air before release. The scrubber enables us to test with three fuel mixtures while ensuring we meet regulatory requirements and maintain clean air release from the facility at all times, and in every operational regime.

Iterating on early learnings from Polaris

I’ve always believed the best insights come when you’re designing, building, and operating in parallel. One area we’re focused on right now is optimizing capacitor bank connections. Taking early learnings from Polaris, we’re identifying new opportunities to improve connection integration across future systems. We’re developing and testing hardware that could significantly reduce cable count and also designing pre-assembled components to minimize line loss and streamline integration timelines.

Deploying at scale is directly enabled by the R&D that moves us forward. We’re looking for a Director of Research and Development to keep us on pace!

Scaling capacitor manufacturing

New equipment is showing up in Everett every day. We’re building out new test bays almost weekly, running multiple assembly lines and production stations, and calibrating systems that will meaningfully expand our production capacity. I’m especially excited about the progress in capacitor manufacturing. We’ve brought a new winding machine online that replaces multiple steps from our previous process, and we’ve built a new capacitor filling station that enables us to fill up to 20 units with dielectric (canola oil) in a single batch. Each upgrade reduces complexity, increases production yield, and pushes us closer to true gigafactory-scale throughput.


Through the years we have celebrated big technological and business achievements, each leading Helion to where we are today: operating Polaris, scaling manufacturing, and building on our first commercial site. All this work sets the foundation for a fusion powered future—one that delivers clean, reliable electricity from Helion generators, produced at commercial scale.

And if you want to be a part of it, we’re hiring!

https://mailchi.mp/helionenergy/buildin ... fb0f77adc2

[mvanwink5]

Helion’s newsletter shows Helion is focused on reducing time & cost to build commercial fusion plants. Yes, Helion needs to get more data from Polaris, but the data they need does not appear to significantly change the design parameters for the plant they are building for the Microsoft power plant contract.

Or in other words, not ‘if’ it will work, but nuance control information. Yet for me as I see it the world will change once Helion goes public with commercializable net electric from fusion. Talk about market shock for electric power in the world. No more bird mulching windmills & their grifters for one.

[usesbiggerwords]

No more bird mulching windmills & their grifters for one.

No more farm-land devouring solar farms and THEIR grifters either.

[Skipjack]

Installing the roof shielding for Polaris.

HelionRoofShielding.jpg (97.39 KiB) Viewed 1491 times

[mvanwink5]

No more operation of Polaris in ‘Reaver Mode’.