Interview with Dr Nick Hawker - CEO First Light Fusion

Dr Nick Hawker is CEO First Light Fusion. At The Engineer Conference in June, he is presenting ‘Projectile Fusion: A New Approach To Fusion Power’ on 4 June at 13:30. We caught up with him before the show to ask all about his nuclear fusion project and its potential to change the industry. 

Please tell us more about your nuclear fusion project and how this has the potential to change the industry as we know it.

For fusion reactions to occur, the fuel source (involving a pair of hydrogen isotopes) needs to be held in a hot, dense plasma state for a sufficient length of time. There are two approaches to achieving this: magnetic and inertial fusion. In magnetic fusion, magnetic forces combine to hold the plasma in a steady state meaning the fuel is always hot and always reacting. Magnetic fusion has a very low density and must hold the plasma for a long time for the reaction to occur. In inertial fusion, the fuel is heated and compressed with an implosion. The plasma is held together by its own inertia and is highly dense, however unlike magnetic, this state only exists for a fraction of a second. The main challenge has been controlling the enormous complexities involved and finding a configuration that holds the fuel together long enough to return more energy than it consumes.
First Light Fusion is developing a new model for inertial fusion where the plasma is held together for a hundred times longer than mainstream inertial fusion, meaning less density is required and an abundant source of energy is created. The project uses a pulsed power machine, ‘Machine 3’. Per Joule of energy, Machine 3 is 1000x cheaper than the mainstream inertial confinement schemes, such as NIF, which uses lasers to create a target and thus dramatically increases costs.
Therefore, as the demand for fusion energy rises, our innovative model produced from a simple machine has the potential to provide an efficient, safe, abundant source of power that can change the energy landscape forever.

What are the challenges associated with creating commercial fusion?

The primary challenge is gaining enough equity to maintain the project, particularly a private company like ourself. There is also the challenge of having enough money to fund the core technology alongside the fusion reactor, something many of our competitors are doing.
First Light Fusion is well funded backed by private equity rather than government money, meaning we can be more rapid in our development and more agile. Furthermore, we plan to partner with world-class engineering companies who can build the fusion reactor while we commercialise our intellectual property by supplying the ‘science bit’. We therefore have the financial foundations to prosper commercially as our company develops.

What are the future benefits of the work you are doing? 

Our fusion project, if successful, will meet the exponentially-rising demand for electricity over the coming decades. It is doubtful that the solar, wind and battery growth will meet the IPCC’s target of net zero emissions by 2050, meaning a significant scientific breakthrough is required. If successful, we can create an abundant, efficient source of energy which is well-financed and commercially viable. At a time when more than one billion people have no access to electricity, our vision is a world where fusion energy, together with existing renewable technologies, brings light into every home. We have every confidence that First Light Fusion can meet this challenge. 

What are you most looking forward to at The Engineer Expo, Subcon and Advanced Manufacturing this summer? 

We are looking forward to meeting the best suppliers, latest innovations and leading practical advisers which will help build new partnerships moving forward. Clearly, partnerships are crucial to our business, particularly when finding an engineering company capable of building a fusion reactor. The Engineering Conference will provide the perfect opportunity to achieve this. Additionally, the broad sector expertise present at the conference will be invaluable for us and will provide an opportunity to exchange experiences and learn. 

What would you put into Engineering Room 101? 

I would put ‘minimum viable product’ into engineering room 101. Smart phones are some of the most incredible bits of hardware every produced, but the software is often sorely lacking. In the name of ‘Agile’ developers rush to get their product out there half-conceptualised, half-implemented and buggy, and there is an entire language and culture developed to justify this. To paraphrase my favourite webcomic, there is no programming language that can clarify your intentions.

The Engineer Conference takes place 4-5 June at NEC, Birmingham, and is co-located with Advanced Manufacturing, The Engineer Expo and Subcon. Register now for a free visitor pass HERE.