01
Driver
Lasers (Xcimer, Inertia) or pulsed electrical power (Pacific Fusion). Energy onto a tiny target.
Inertial confinement
A peppercorn of fuel. Lasers or a magnetic pulse implode it so fast the plasma’s own inertia is the bottle. The National Ignition Facility proved laboratory ignition. Startups are trying to fire that shot like an engine.
Cyan beams are drivers. The pink core is the capsule. NIF used 192 lasers; plants need repetition rate, not a cathedral.
How it works
Magnetic bottles last seconds to hours. Inertial bottles last nanoseconds. You win by going faster than disassembly.
Lasers (Xcimer, Inertia) or pulsed electrical power (Pacific Fusion). Energy onto a tiny target.
Ablation drives the shell inward. Density and temperature spike. Fusion burn, if symmetry holds.
A plant is a machine gun of pellets, not one shot a day. That engineering is the whole company.
U.S. companies
Pulsed power and lasers. Billion-dollar first rounds. Livermore’s shadow, commercial intent.