TVA Bringing Construction Expertise to Nuclear Fusion Project in Tennessee
The Tennessee Valley Authority, a U.S. federally chartered power generator for nearly 100 years, is banking part of its future on a generation technology which doesn’t exist yet commercially.
TVA and Tennessee-based Type One Energy are signing up to partner on Project Infinity, which is developing nuclear fusion power plant technology. Nuclear fission is the reaction technology currently used to power all 94 nuclear units in the U.S., but nuclear fusion is still under experimentation and pilot phases.
Type One Energy, which has been working with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has announced hopes to start construction on a first stellarator-type fusion reactor by the end of this year. The first Project Infinity, if and when it’s built, would be in east Tennessee.
Nuclear fission, which splits atoms to create energy, currently accounts for 18% of total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation. Fusion is a reaction fusing the nuclei together and is what powers the sun, but its controllability and scalability have been limited to small gains in net energy by researchers around the world, including projects by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
The TVA, which includes nuclear fission in its power generation fleet, and Type One Energy hope to create commercial-scale fusion by the mid-2030s. The federal power agency, through its Power Service Shops (PSS) facility in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and with support from other locations, will assist in the development of tailored welding and fabrication techniques for Project Infinity.
TVA is not alone in its confidence around future nuclear fusion. Google and Amazon Web Services have offered financial support for projects to scale the technology.
The Type One Energy Infinity One stellarator fusion machine will be deployed at TVA’s Bull Run Fossil Plant near Knoxville.
“I have seen TVA’s capabilities from my previous work with them in the nuclear and hydro power sectors,” said Mark Ruis, Type One Energy’s Vice President for Stellarator Maintenance and Inspection Solutions. “Their PSS facilities, and highly skilled workforce which repairs and refurbishes some of the most challenging components in the power industry, will significantly derisk our ability to deliver Infinity One and Infinity Two.”
Nuclear fusion seeks to energize plasma that includes several chemical elements, with the stellarator controlling the plasma by encircling it with external magnets. Another type of nuclear fusion machine is the tokamak first developed in Russia.
While Project Infinity will focus on the core stellarator technology led by Type One Energy, any commercial-scale facility will require manufacturing, construction and operating experience such as TVA’s 92-year experience in building a power generation fleet.
“TVA Power Service Shops have a long, storied history and we look forward to being part of this initiative,” said Doug Keeling, TVA’s Vice President for the PSS.
Researchers and fusion advocates believe that, if it ever achieves commercial and controlled scalability, this nuclear generation technology could provide unlimited resources of carbon-free energy.
About the Author
Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor
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Rod Walton has spent 17 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.
Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World.
EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023
Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.