Innovation Winter 2024.25

FEATURE

ASSOCIATION

that produces enough tritium,” Donaldson said. “We're the only approach that completely surrounds our reaction with liquid metal; and the liquid metal is thick, so as those neutrons are going through the lithium, there are more chances for it to create tritium.” The efficacy of the solution took the General Fusion team by surprise. “Quite honestly, when I saw a (tritium rebreeding ratio) come out that was sufficiently greater than one, I was like, ‘We got to make sure we did this right,’” said Donaldson. The UK Atomic Energy Authority and U.S. Savannah River National Laboratory were able to verify the team’s calculations, coming out with rebreeding ratios of 1.5 as of September 2024. If these calculations continue to hold, General Fusion’s process will be a net producer of tritium. General Fusion’s prototyping process Theoretically, all of these components make General Fusion’s method an elegant solution to many of the problems that engineers pursuing overcomes a lot of the barriers to commercialization that we’ve seen through fusion,” said Donaldson. In practice, the technical aspects of harnessing energy from 100-million- degree plasma have led to decades of technical challenges. The atrium of General Fusion’s headquarters in Richmond is filled with old demonstration prototypes representing its progress on various technologies. It took 24 prototypes and over 200,000 experiments with plasma to reach the point the company is now with its newest LM26 prototype, working toward compression systems that can put the plasma at its 10 keV energy target by 2026 and reaching scientific breakeven. “General Fusion's approach has always been to demonstrate the individual components that are required, and eventually put them all together,” said Donaldson. fusion typically encounter. “General Fusion’s approach

UPCOMING WEBINAR TO HELP DEVELOP LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Engineers and Geoscientists BC and Engineers Canada will hosting a free one hour webinar entitled Land Acknowledgments for Engineers and Geoscientists , scheduled for March 10, 2021. This session will explore the practice of acknowledging First Peoples and traditional land as a way to open meetings, and also as part of a larger process towards reconciliation between non-Indigenous and Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Cassandra Polyzou of Engineers Canada will facilitate a panel discussion with Indigenous engineers, geoscientists, and Indigenous knowledge-keepers, on the importance of this traditional protocol and its application to the engineering and geoscience professions. To learn more or to register, visit the event page at egbc.ca/Events , or email Allison Smith at asmith@egbc.ca . The Events Page includes upcoming webinars and on-demand offerings through the Online Learning Centre. To suggest future topics or speakers, email pdevents@egbc.ca .

P hoto : eB a dventure P hotograPhy / shutterstoCK . Com

OFESSIONAL GOVERNANCE ACT

edition of Innovation magazine ( egbc.ca/innovation ), and produced a short video about the PGA. To register for the upcoming webinars, watch previous PGA webinars, download the insert, or view the video, visit egbc.ca/pga .

ring al

the

w

rce

If you have questions about the new legislation, email

professionalgovernance@egbc.ca , or visit our website at egbc.ca/pga .

1,

General Fusion’s 2017 plasma injector prototype, which reached a plasma temperature of 3-million degrees Celsius.

Norton Rose

on

When you need a team with deep industry understanding, we’re there. At Norton Rose Fulbright, we combine

n nd n

extensive local experience with global perspective. Our dedicated team provides highly pragmatic legal advice in construction, engineering and infrastructure. Wherever you are looking next, we have the in-depth knowledge to meet your needs. Law around the world nortonrosefulbright.com

ngs

C’s

d

de,

26

Winter 2024/25

Innovation

INNOVATION

JA NUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

7