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Interview with Richard Dinan from Applied Fusion Systems

Applied Fusion Systems recently released a video to explain Nuclear Fusion and encourage investors to fund their project.  Additionally, Applied Fusion Systems’ CEO, Richard Dinan has written a book: ‘The Fusion Age: Modern Nuclear Fusion Reactors’ to explain to investors how the planned reactors will work and why they should back fusion.

Question: Can you please provide a brief introduction to Applied Fusion Systems?

Answer: Applied Fusion Systems is a private manufacturer of ‘Spherical Tokamak’ Nuclear Fusion Reactors in the UK. Our goal is to build and design fusion reactors and associated components to a commercially viable specification. We also invest in spin off technology’s arising from fusion research.

Question: With many nations considering a range of energy options in the pursuit of energy security and to support economic growth, why are you backing nuclear fusion?

Answer: It is my opinion, and that of every nuclear physicist I have interviewed, that if one could revisit Earth in 2100, our dominant power source will be nuclear fusion. If that’s true, then the majority of the World’s $7 trillion annual energy spend has to get itself out of combustion and fission and into fusion over the next 80 years. Fusion is what the Stars and our Sun are doing for energy, it is the universe’s chosen power source. Fusion is by far, the cleanest, most powerful source of energy we have ever witnessed. We have long followed the stars for direction, its time we learn to emulate them.

Question: Your company has stated an intention to build two STAR (Small Toroidal Atomic Reactor) reactors and generate data and results within the next 7 years. You’ve cited that advances in 3D printing and super computing, coupled with the nimbleness of your organisation will enable you to achieve this.  Could you elaborate more on this please.

Answer: Simply put, Governments are awful at management. Scientists and engineers build fusion reactors. Now more than ever, those skilled workers are happy to work for corporations like Applied Fusion who have access to the same technologies, can grant them a degree of freedom in their work, offer them better pay and ‘a piece of the action’, and the promise that they will see the fruits of their labour regardless of the political landscape. Corporations are restricted only by their ability to raise capital.

Question: You’ve previously stated: “As an entrepreneur and non-scientist, I believe the real success is funding fusion. Private companies must step up.” Why should private companies step up and more importantly why should they do so now rather than say in 2025 when ITER is due to come online? 

Answer: Here’s a little insider information for you. Fusion works. Once ITER solidly demonstrates this in 2025-2030, surpassing its expectations of Q=10 (Producing 10 times more energy that is needed to operate it), the World media will go fusion bonkers.   By then we will have been working on this for 10 years and newcomers will be ‘a little late.’ 

Click here to find out more about the Applied Fusion Systems project.