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that is embedded in a cube. The cube is termed an amplifier. It contains spherical cavities that send the projectile's energy onto the fuel capsule, focusing shock waves instead of light. The projectile speed (tens of kilometers per second) becomes an implosion speed of hundreds of kilometers per
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called projectile fusion. Projectile fusion involves electromagnetically accelerating a metal projectile, firing it into a fusion target similar to that used by
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Belgium-based engineering company
Tractebel announced the signing of a framework agreement in July 2023 to jointly develop the M4 facility with First Light.
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214:. In April 2024, the company announced that it had extended the distance its projectiles can travel without self-destructing from 1 cm to 10 cm.
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Ventikos had suggested forming the company based on Hawker's research into hydrodynamic simulations of shock-driven
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492:"The 80 trillion-watt shot: 'Holy Grail' fusion energy pioneer claims record at world's most powerful machine"
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517:"First Light Fusion Makes Progress Towards an Economical Working Fusion Reactor | NextBigFuture.com"
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second (producing fuel pressure of 10–100 terapascals), sufficient to produce fusion.
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In
January 2023 it was announced that the company had entered an agreement with the
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Campus. M4 will attempt to demonstrate the capacity of projectile fusion to reach
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442:"Tractebel Signs Agreement For UK Facility That Will Demonstrate 'Net Gain'"
466:"Tractebel supports First Light Fusion in making inertial fusion a reality"
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265:"New approach to Inertial Fusion | Projectile Fusion | First Light Fusion"
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In March 2024, the company announced that it had set a record of 1.85-
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331:"How nuclear fusion reactors like this one could change the world"
232:"How a US fusion breakthrough left Britain scrambling to catch up"
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The company's approach to fusion research is a particular form of
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The company was founded by
Nicholas Hawker and his former
384:"Europe's Old Universities Spin Out New Tech Companies"
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184:to develop First Light's "Machine 4" (M4) at the
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417:"The tale of shrimp-inspired nuclear fusion"
290:"Inertial-Confinement Fusion without Lasers"
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158:Yiannis Ventikos in 2011, as a research
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182:United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
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358:"Projectile fusion goes for gain"
288:Schirber, Michael (2024-02-05).
382:Michaels, Daniel (2019-10-09).
329:Bardsley, Daniel (2022-10-17).
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230:Mustoe, Howard (2023-08-13).
130:https://firstlightfusion.com/
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501:2024-03-14
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208:Z-machine
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