KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (WATE) — With ongoing initiatives to integrate nuclear fusion energy into the power grid, theTennessee Valley Authorityand the Knoxville-based company Type One Energy finalized the initial set of commercial agreements concerningProject Infinity.The initiative seeks to provide the Tennessee Valley with safe, dependable, and environmentally friendly power as soon as the mid-2030s.
With the new agreements, TVA will utilize its Power Service Shops (PSS) location in Alabama to design specialized welding and manufacturing processes and produce components for Project Infinity. These techniques will be applied to Type One’s prototype stellarator fusion device known as Infinity One, which is set to be constructed at the Bull Run Fossil Plant.
Mark Miles, the Senior Vice President of marketing and external affairs at Type One, stated that as their designs progressed, they required an individual with the appropriate manufacturing expertise to bring it to life.
“Frankly, [PSS has] the knowledge to advance some of the manufacturing methods that we need to better comprehend as we refine our power plant design. In other words, they know how to handle projects and construct things, and we required that expertise. So we were able to collaborate with them, rather than having to do everything on our own or internally,” he explained.
We are collaborating with the top talent to accomplish one of the most challenging tasks that has been attempted recently, and we are very confident in our partnership with TVA.
Mark Miles, the Senior Vice President of marketing and external affairs at Type One
They intend to utilize PSS as a location for putting together the modules and conducting tests on them prior to their transportation to a place such as Bull Run for reassembly.
“One of the distinctive features of accelerators is their ability to be constructed and taken apart in a modular way. This means you can create individual sections and simply connect them. Ideally, we would have PSS develop the ability to assemble these modules and then test them prior to sending them to a power plant,” explained Miles.
Work is being done to get readyBull Run Fossil Plantfor the construction of Infinity One, which Type One intends to complete by the end of 2028. By the end of June, thepiles at the facility were destroyed, and in March, seven scientific articles were released in the Journal of Plasma Physics (JPP)demonstrating the potential for generating fusion energy through Type One’s stellarator system.
Infinity One will not contribute additional power to the grid, but it will provide valuable insights for the development of Infinity Two, which Miles mentioned is anticipated to supply between 300 and 350 megawatts to the grid. This capacity is sufficient to power approximately 170,000 homes.
“When we activate Infinity One in 2028, the device will confirm certain aspects of our power plant design. Then, if we fast forward, let’s assume it takes us seven years to construct the plant and connect it to the grid; that would be mid-2035. So, it’s sooner than you might expect,” said Miles.
Type One is still searching for a location for Infinity Two and is evaluating multiple possibilities. Since they are not employing fission, they face fewer geographical limitations than initiatives such as small modular nuclear reactor projects.
Type One seeks to function as a technology provider, rather than a utility. Their objective is to sell Infinity Two power plants to utilities, such as TVA, or other final users.
“We reported a collaborative agreement with TVATo essentially examine what it would require from their viewpoint to feel at ease proceeding with a power plant. “The cooperative agreement stated that we would work on outlining the roadmap,” said Miles.
One of the obstacles in meeting their schedule is financial resources. Nevertheless, the company has obtained multiple grants to assist with their efforts. Indeed, they were thefirst business to be awarded a grant through Tennessee’s $50 million Fund for Nuclear Energy.
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