German nuclear fusion startup envisages test plant by 2031

By Jörn Poltz

MUNICH (Reuters) - Proxima Fusion, a Munich-based nuclear fusion technology company, aims to start a test reactor in 2031 as it works towards commercial electricity production later in that decade, its chief executive said at a public event late on Tuesday.

Unlike the burning of fossil fuels or the fission process of existing nuclear power plants, nuclear fusion offers the vision of abundant energy without pollution, radioactive waste or greenhouse gases, replicating with lasers or magnets the reaction that fuels the sun.

Ideas for a prototype were researched by the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics before the company gathered $65 million in finance, CEO Francesco Sciortino said, pointing also to support from the energy agenda of the newly forming government in Berlin.

"The target is for a pilot plant in 2031," he said.

The test reactor is expected to cost 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion), said Sciortino, without giving details of funding plans.

Worldwide, several initiatives are exploring nuclear fusion trying to prove its viability, namely Commonwealth Fusion Systems of the United States, and China, where the state planning agency has pledged support for research into nuclear fusion.

A large-scale European experiment called ITER in southern France is, however, is years behind schedule and far from coming online.

Germany's Christian Democratic party (CDU), which with its Bavarian sister party CSU will likely lead the incoming coalition government, said in energy plans last November it aimed to create a regulatory framework for fusion technology in Germany and Europe.

Bavaria is also home to Proxima rivals Marvel Fusion and Gauss Fusion.

The recent European Union Clean Industrial Deal also mentioned that proposals should be made for a fusion strategy to help promote next-generation energy.

($1 = 0.9158 euros)

(Reporting by Joern Poltz, writing by Vera Eckert, editing by Elaine Hardcastle)