"A fusion reactor that makes power - and there's plenty of those, they already exist. A fusion reactor that makes electricity is better. That's where the nascent industry remains stuck."
"The most common approach is to heat water and spin a steam turbine, but that approach isn't terribly efficient, harnessing at best around 60% of the power."
"Avalanche was awarded a $5.2 million contract from DARPA to develop new radiovoltaics. The Pentagon research agency is interested in using the materials in a new class of nuclear batteries."
"Such devices could help power spacecraft and satellites for several years. They could also be used in more energy intensive terrestrial military applications for days on end."
Fusion reactions can release significant energy by fusing lighter atoms, but converting that energy into electricity remains difficult. Traditional methods, like heating water to spin turbines, are inefficient. Avalanche Energy aims to enhance energy capture through radiovoltaics, which use semiconductors to convert radiation into electricity. Despite their potential, existing radiovoltaics are limited in effectiveness. Recently, Avalanche received a $5.2 million DARPA contract to develop new radiovoltaics for nuclear batteries, which could power spacecraft and military applications, although this is not the company's primary focus.
Read at TechCrunch
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