Realta Fusion generates electricity directly from a fusion reaction, an apparent first
Realta Fusion generates electricity directly from a fusion reaction, an apparent first
Realta Fusion 直接从核聚变反应中发电，这似乎是行业首例
For fusion startups, the hard part is over: Thanks to a groundbreaking experiment in 2022, we know that controlled nuclear fusion reactions can generate more power than they consume. But now companies need to prove their reactors can make enough electricity to be profitable. 对于核聚变初创公司来说，最困难的部分已经过去：得益于 2022 年的一项突破性实验，我们已经知道受控核聚变反应产生的能量可以超过其消耗的能量。但现在，各家公司需要证明其反应堆能够产生足够的电力以实现盈利。
One option is to simply turn up the temperature, generating more heat to produce more steam to spin a bigger turbine. Another is to harvest electricity directly from the fusion reactions themselves, an approach that promises to be more efficient. 一种选择是简单地提高温度，产生更多的热量来制造更多的蒸汽，从而带动更大的涡轮机。另一种选择是直接从核聚变反应本身获取电力，这种方法有望实现更高的效率。
Realty Fusion announced that an experiment it conducted on June 19 successfully powered a lightbulb using electricity harvested directly from WHAM, its demonstration fusion device. The Wisconsin-based startup believes it is the first private company to publicly demonstrate such a feat. Realta Fusion 宣布，其在 6 月 19 日进行的一项实验成功利用从其核聚变演示装置 WHAM 中直接获取的电力点亮了一个灯泡。这家总部位于威斯康星州的初创公司认为，它是第一家公开展示这一壮举的私营企业。
“We can take power from a plasma,” Kieran Furlong, co-founder and CEO of Realta Fusion, told TechCrunch. The milestone shows “what’s possible,” he added. Realta plans to use direct electricity conversion to heat the plasma in its reactor, a process that requires a lot of energy. “我们可以从等离子体中获取能量，”Realta Fusion 的联合创始人兼首席执行官 Kieran Furlong 对 TechCrunch 表示。他补充说，这一里程碑展示了“无限可能”。Realta 计划利用直接电力转换技术来加热反应堆中的等离子体，这是一个需要大量能量的过程。
Furlong estimates that direct conversion is about 90% efficient, meaning it will convert 90% of the potential energy into electricity. By comparison, steam turbines in today’s fission reactors are about 33% efficient. The more energy the company is able to harvest, the quicker it will get to profitability. Furlong 估计，直接转换的效率约为 90%，这意味着它能将 90% 的势能转化为电能。相比之下，当今裂变反应堆中的蒸汽涡轮机效率约为 33%。公司能够获取的能量越多，实现盈利的速度就越快。
Every power plant consumes some of the power it produces simply to operate, and fusion reactors are no exception. The big challenge fusion startups face today is building reactors that can produce more energy than they consume. The efficiency boost from direct energy conversion should make clearing that hurdle easier. 每座发电厂在运行过程中都会消耗其所产生的部分电力，核聚变反应堆也不例外。核聚变初创公司目前面临的最大挑战是建造出能够产生超过其消耗能量的反应堆。直接能量转换带来的效率提升，应该能让跨越这一障碍变得更容易。
About 20% of the energy from fusion reactions fueled by deuterium-tritium, the kind Realta plans to use in its commercial reactors, are charged helium nuclei known as alpha particles. The startup built a prototype electricity converter and attached it on the end of its reactor. There, it was able to harvest enough “alpha power” to generate multiple amps of electricity at 100 volts, powering a few lightbulbs. 在氘氚燃料驱动的核聚变反应中（这也是 Realta 计划在其商业反应堆中使用的燃料），约 20% 的能量以带电氦核的形式存在，即所谓的“阿尔法粒子”。该初创公司制造了一个电力转换器原型，并将其安装在反应堆末端。在那里，它成功获取了足够的“阿尔法能量”，在 100 伏电压下产生了数安培的电流，点亮了几个灯泡。
Realta Fusion’s WHAM device is built to demonstrate the magnetic mirror approach to fusion power. Realta Fusion 的 WHAM 装置旨在演示磁镜式核聚变发电技术。
On a commercial scale power plant, the direct energy converters should provide enough energy to heat the plasma. “You’re basically able to recirculate the electricity,” Furlong said. Ultimately, Furlong estimates that circularity could boost a commercial scale power plant’s total output by 20% to 30%. “Spinning a flywheel of electricity, if you like, is very beneficial,” he said. 在商业规模的发电厂中，直接能量转换器应能提供足够的能量来加热等离子体。“你基本上能够实现电力的循环利用，”Furlong 说。最终，Furlong 估计这种循环性可以将商业规模发电厂的总输出功率提高 20% 到 30%。“如果你愿意的话，让电力像飞轮一样旋转是非常有益的，”他说。
Though it might be the first to demonstrate direct energy conversion, Realta isn’t the only startup planning to deploy that technology in its reactor. For Helion, the startup backed by Sam Altman, direct energy conversion is key to its plans, though it has yet to demonstrate it publicly. 虽然 Realta 可能是第一家展示直接能量转换技术的公司，但它并不是唯一一家计划在其反应堆中部署该技术的初创公司。对于由萨姆·奥特曼（Sam Altman）支持的初创公司 Helion 来说，直接能量转换是其计划的关键，尽管该公司尚未公开展示这一技术。
Harvesting electricity directly from the fusion reaction “really helps with the economics” of a reactor’s design, Furlong said. Realta previously raised $36 million in a Series A led by Future Ventures in 2025. Furlong said the company is in the midst of raising a new round. Furlong 表示，直接从核聚变反应中获取电力“确实有助于改善”反应堆设计的经济性。Realta 此前在 2025 年由 Future Ventures 领投的 A 轮融资中筹集了 3600 万美元。Furlong 表示，公司目前正在进行新一轮融资。