The world's largest private laser just fired up in race to make fusion power real
SMRTR summary
A startup in Denver has switched on what it calls the world's largest privately owned laser, and no, it's not for world domination.
Xcimer Energy has powered up "Phoenix," a prototype laser system housed in a 74,000-square-foot facility, designed to push laser-driven nuclear fusion toward commercial reality.
The company is building on a landmark 2022 breakthrough at the National Ignition Facility, where scientists achieved fusion "ignition" for the first time. But NIF was never built to power a city grid. Its 192-laser system is expensive and complex.
Xcimer's bet is on simplicity. As co-founder Alexander Valys puts it: "NIF proved laser fusion physics works. Our thesis is that commercial laser fusion becomes possible only if the laser system itself becomes dramatically simpler, cheaper, and more manufacturable."
Phoenix is just the starting point. The company has mapped out a path to a commercial fusion power plant by the mid-2030s. Ambitious? Absolutely. But so was splitting the atom.
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