Helion

After a large bank upgrade on our Polaris formation section test, we're back up and forming plasmas! Our upgrades included a new capacitor bank configuration, new vacuum vessel, and an optimized control room setup. Each of these upgrades help us learn early about how we'll be operating and testing Polaris once the full system is built. #engineering #fusionenergy #plasma

Fusion is not nuclear. Fusion is fundamentally different than what the world associates with the term ‘nuclear,’ which is the fission process. In fact, it is the opposite! This has major implications for its potential impacts to public safety and the environment. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Congress have recognized this. As we are on the cusp of major breakthroughs and the rapid deployment of fusion energy to responsibly meet the world’s growing energy needs, we must make this clear. We should all empower fusion to make its own case to our communities and policy?makers, without being wrongly associated with ‘nuclear.’ Read more here: https://lnkd.in/e3jfX7Xn

Optical spectroscopy is an important diagnostic tool to monitor FRC plasmas in Helion’s generators. Light emitted by the plasma is shaped into a narrow beam and then guided to a spectrometer by an optical fiber. There, light is separated into its component wavelengths and measured to identify impurities and determine plasma parameters, like temperature and density. Shown here is a member of our Research team, testing different fibers and collimators on an optical bench. #plasma #physics #innovation

Our team wrapped up the formation section testbed power bank upgrade and is now back to running plasma tests. This test bed enables our team to optimize how we form FRC plasmas in our systems and will provide early data to inform Polaris operations. #engineering #manufacturing #fusionenergy

In 2022, our team was facing a dilemma. We needed a 1.5-meter quartz tube for Polaris’ vacuum vessels and no supplier was prepared to build it — at least not on the timescale we needed. Our Arc Fusion program was born from that: A drive to build something that has never been done before, in pursuit of building a machine capable of demonstrating electricity from fusion. After 2 years and many hours of rigorous testing, the team has successfully formed their final quartz tube, bringing an end to the vacuum vessel production program.

Our team was at the Workforce Snohomish Mixed Industries job fair this week. We had the opportunity to connect with members of our community in Everett and talk about what it’s like to build fusion generators. Thanks to everyone who stopped by!

We’re looking for an exceptional leader to join our team as a Mechanical Engineering Manager. In this position, you will solve diverse problems that have a real impact on Helion’s fusion generators while establishing design processes to increase Helion’s pace of innovation. Sound like you? Apply using the link in the comments. #hiring #mechanicalengineering

Polaris will require thousands of cables to carry electricity from our capacitors into the machine and back, discharging millions of amps to Polaris’ electromagnetic coils. By bulk assembling the cables each capacitor will need in cable trays, our team can safely and rapidly install these cables.

Out today: Helion secures Large Broad Scope License from the Washington Department of Health. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gRf9U79c

Congrats to the Helion research team for being awarded a Department of Energy Mission Science Award for a NERSC allocation! ? The National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) supports research in the physical sciences with access to high-performance computing resources. This Mission Science Allocation Award provides our team with time on DOE supercomputers and storage resources to simulate fusion-relevant field reversed configurations using the state of the art open-source particle-in-cell code WarpX. (https://lnkd.in/gT9VWpNW) ? As we complete construction of our 7th fusion prototype, Polaris, we’ll use these simulations to help us design and build the world’s first commercial fusion power plant.? The animation here is an example of the work we can do with WarpX to model FRCs.?