UW-Madison announced a $19 million Fusion Innovative Research Engine (FIRE) award from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop and test fusion "blanket" technology — and they're using our neutron source to do it. The UW-Madison researchers, along with SHINE and MIT scientists, will conduct groundbreaking experiments using FLARE to validate how blanket materials perform under the most intense neutron conditions ever tested.
Blankets convert fusion heat into electricity while producing the tritium fuel that keeps reactions running. Getting them right is essential for any commercial fusion plant.
As our CTO Ross Radel explains: "Our systems produce 50 trillion fusion reactions per second, making them the world's brightest steady-state deuterium-tritium neutron sources. Through this partnership, we can collect real-time tritium breeding data to better understand how tritium is produced, transported and captured in blanket systems—critical insights the entire fusion industry needs."
The research will directly benefit commercial developers including Realta Fusion, Type One Energy, and Commonwealth Fusion Systems.
Read the full announcement to see how our neutron source is enabling breakthrough fusion research -- and why Wisconsin is becoming the epicenter of fusion innovation.
