SPARC: Proving commercial fusion energy is possible (original) (raw)

SPARC is paving the way for the urgent transition to clean, safe, zero-carbon fusion energy. In 2027, it’ll become the world’s first commercially relevant fusion energy machine to produce more energy from fusion than it needs to power the process — a threshold called net energy generation or Q>1. That history-making moment will be to fusion energy what the Wright brothers’ Kitty Hawk flight was to aviation: the breakthrough that’ll make a life-changing industry possible.

We’re building SPARC at our 60-acre campus in Devens, Massachusetts, where a team of physicists, welders, technicians, computer scientists, and more are working together to make it happen.

SPARC is a type of device called a tokamak — a donut-shaped machine that’s the most viable, scientifically proven way to recreate the sun’s power source on Earth. SPARC uses powerful magnetic fields to create and insulate a highly energetic cloud of particles called a plasma until it’s hot enough for the particles to fuse. Crucially, SPARC uses high-temperature superconductors (HTS) to enable stronger magnetic fields, making the design more compact and economical. We’re building the HTS magnets at our factory alongside other essential SPARC components.

As well as demonstrating net fusion energy, SPARC’s mission is to refine the core technology that’ll be used in its successor, ARC, that’ll put power on the grid.

SPARC’s design combines decades of knowledge of plasma physics from dozens of tokamaks around the world with cutting-edge simulation tools and data analysis. Peer-reviewed papers published in the Journal of Plasma Physics detail the physics calculations that predict SPARC will achieve net energy — and meet its initial goal of Q>1 with a considerable margin.

As we work towards this milestone, we’ll continue to validate our work through strategic alliances with universities, research centers, and national labs around the world.