This startup wants to build a fusion reactor — on a boat

Only one fusion device has ever met the key scientific threshold for success, yet Maritime Fusion CEO Justin Cohen is already plotting to put a fusion reactor on a boat by 2032. The startup has raised $4.5 million to develop what they believe could be the first tokamak reactor designed for ships, potentially generating 30 megawatts of clean power from water.

Cohen argues the economics actually make more sense at sea than on land. While fusion struggles to compete with cheap solar and wind power, ships currently burn expensive diesel and bunker fuel that could cost as much as first-generation fusion technology. "Those are some of the other really expensive fuels that might actually be as expensive as first-of-a-kind fusion," Cohen said.

The company is already assembling high-temperature superconducting cables from Japanese suppliers to build the powerful magnets needed for their eight-meter-wide reactor, called Yinsen. Unlike nuclear fission reactors that already power submarines and aircraft carriers, fusion promises similar capabilities without meltdown risks or radiation concerns. Maritime plans to skip the costly demonstration phase that rivals like Commonwealth Fusion Systems are pursuing, jumping straight to a commercial reactor.