Japan’s fusion energy startup to begin power-on tests at pilot reactor in 2027
Japanese start-up Helical Fusion CEO Takaya Taguchi talks to Reuters about the company’s strategy to develop its first nuclear fusion reactor, in Tokyo, Japan, August 14, 2024. REUTERS/Yuka Obayashi
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TOKI, Japan, Sept 29 : Japanese startup Helical Fusion expects to begin preliminary power-on tests at its demonstration fusion reactor in 2027, it said on Tuesday, a step towards its goal of becoming a global leader in commercial nuclear fusion energy.
The company is developing Helix HARUKA, Japan’s first integrated pilot reactor using the helical approach to fusion. The pilot facility is designed to demonstrate the feasibility of stable, continuous fusion reactions.
Nuclear fusion involves smashing atoms together at super-high temperatures to generate heat the same way the sun does. It could one day produce enormous amounts of clean power with little radioactive waste, in contrast to today’s fission reactors.
Despite global efforts to harness fusion energy, 70 years of research have yet to yield a commercially viable reactor.
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Helical Fusion completed a performance test of a high-temperature superconducting (HTS) coil in 2025, replicated the magnetic environment inside a fusion device and achieved a stable current flow under superconducting conditions, in a world first. The result cleared a key hurdle for manufacturing and constructing the integrated demonstration reactor, it said.
Construction of the first spiral coil at the National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS) site in Toki, central Japan, started early this year and is now largely complete, allowing the company to open the facility to the media.
If the first-stage tests are successful, Helical Fusion said it planned to install a second coil and other major components, including a liquid-metal wall blanket, before conducting power-on tests of the completed integrated facility around 2030.
The company plans to follow HARUKA with HELIX KANATA, a bigger reactor with a net power output of 50 MW, aiming to demonstrate stable and continuous power generation. It plans to begin full-scale investment in the project in the 2030s.
Helical Fusion is the sole private-sector inheritor of the helical fusion technology developed by NIFS, one of the world’s largest fusion research facilities. It aims to develop the world’s first commercially viable fusion power plant based on the helical design.
Helical Fusion CEO Takaya Taguchi told reporters the company aims to build a commercial power plant as early as the 2040s but said before commercial operations can begin, there are various hurdles to overcome—not only technical ones, but also issues such as cost, safety and construction speed.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is a strong supporter of the nuclear fusion industry. The government has designated fusion energy as one of 17 strategic sectors and plans to invest 3.1 trillion yen ($19.7 billion) through public and private sector funding by the 2040 financial year.
($1 = 157.0600 yen)
Source: Reuters
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