Russia and the United States are jointly creating a new type of fusion reactor

Employees of the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences assemble equipment on an experimental C 2 -U thermonuclear installation of Tri Alpha Company (California, USA)

The American company Tri Alpha Energy for many years led the development of neutron-free (anaeutron) thermonuclear reactor. The company operates quite covertly, without making public announcements or announcements of current progress or plans for the commercial launch of the reactor. Their work can be judged only by the list of patents that have been registered and expanded / updated since 1998. They also publish articles in scientific journals, telling about some of their achievements.

According to the available information, Tri Alpha Energy has more than 150 employees, and venture capital investments in the company exceeded $ 140 million. Investors include Goldman Sachs, Vulcan Inc. Paul Allen, Venrock Rockefeller and others.

Few people know that the key equipment for the future thermonuclear reactor is made in Novosibirsk.
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Most recently, the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INP) has developed and supplied unique atomic hydrogen generators for thermonuclear fusion in the USA.

The development of Novosibirsk scientists was successfully used in experiments on the C2-U plasma system of Tri Alpha Energy, during which impressive results were obtained on plasma confinement with a temperature of 10 million degrees, according to the journal Science in Siberia.

The Tri Alpha thermonuclear fusion plant for plasma confinement uses a reversed magnetic field configuration (Field Reversed Configuration, FRC), rather than the most studied system today — the tokamak (toroidal installation for magnetic plasma confinement in the form of a ring).


Configuration with reversed magnetic field (Field Reversed Configuration)

"The system used by Tri Alpha Energy allows the advantages of linear magnetic traps and tokamaks to be combined," writes the Russian Academy of Sciences. - It is expected that in this design it will be possible to realize an environmentally friendly neutron-free thermonuclear fusion reaction of the proton nucleus and the boron isotope with the formation of three alpha particles. During recent experiments conducted at the C2-U research facility, an impressive breakthrough has occurred: we succeeded in obtaining the regime of stable maintenance of hot plasma. During the experiments, the plasma was stabilized by the ions produced in it by powerful beams of atomic hydrogen. Their sources were unique generators designed and manufactured under a contract with Tri Alpha Energy at the Novosibirsk Institute of Nuclear Physics SB RAS under the guidance of Alexander Aleksandrov Ivanov, Deputy Director of the Institute, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics. It is important to note that the development of Novosibirsk physicists confirmed the absence of fundamental restrictions on further increasing the parameters of the beam generators for the transition to the stationary mode of operation that is required for a fusion reactor. "

The staff of the INP SB RAS actively participate in experiments conducted at the C2-U facility, and American physicists participate in joint work on a unique complex of open magnetic traps in the INP.

By the way, one of the investors of Tri Alpha Energy is the former state corporation Rosnano, and its executive director Anatoly Chubais is on the board of directors of Tri Alpha Energy.