Nuclear-Fusion Firm Hits Funding Record With Plasma Breakthrough
- System will generate temperatures above 100 million degrees
- Fusion aims to create energy by replicating star conditions
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TAE Technologies Inc., a developer of nuclear fusion technology, raised $280 million to build a demonstration system after the company was able to produce superheated plasma at 50 million degrees Celsius (90 million degrees Fahrenheit), a key milestone in the effort to reproduce the power of stars to generate electricity on Earth.
The company has now raised more than $880 million from backers including Google, Venrock Associates and Kuwait Investment Authority, TAE said in a statement Thursday. That’s more than any other company pursuing fusion, according to Chris Gadomski, nuclear analyst for BloombergNEF.