Xcimer and Pacific Fusion expand cooperation with the defense sector
Denver-based startup Xcimer, which develops laser-based fusion technology, has announced a partnership and investment from RTX, a conglomerate that includes defense contractor Raytheon. The agreement provides funding for Xcimer from RTX Ventures and also gives RTX the opportunity to explore potential applications of the startup’s high-power lasers, TechCrunch reports.
Xcimer’s laser system
Xcimer says it operates the world’s largest privately owned laser system. The company plans to use its Phoenix facility to develop a fusion power plant. Under the startup’s concept, lasers will bombard fuel targets and compress them until atoms begin to fuse and release energy.
Phoenix’s power is approximately an order of magnitude below the level required for a power plant. At the same time, according to TechCrunch, the system has already drawn the attention of the defense industry. Interest in laser weapons has increased after drones changed the nature of modern warfare. Such systems can fire rapidly using electricity from a generator, a shipboard reactor, or an engine, unlike expensive single-use missiles.
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Pacific Fusion’s memorandum with NNSA
Another startup, Pacific Fusion, announced last month that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The parties are to cooperate on high-energy-density fusion experiments.
Pacific Fusion recently began construction of a demonstration facility in New Mexico, near the Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories. The site’s main goal is to demonstrate that the company’s design can produce more energy than the facility consumes. According to TechCrunch, reactions at the facility are expected to be significantly more powerful than those the government currently uses for nuclear weapons experiments.
Pacific Fusion co-founder and chief technology officer Keith LeChaine told TechCrunch that the facility being built by the company could also be useful for defense applications. Co-founder and chief operating officer Carrie von Munch said that defense applications had always been considered by the company.
