Show Notes
For years, the prospect of commercial nuclear fusion felt a long way off. But recent breakthroughs—like Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s historic 2022 net energy gain—have marked a new chapter in the quest for fusion. Proving the physics in a lab, however, is a lot different than building a power plant that can compete on the open grid. Massive hurdles remain across physics, financing, and scaling.
In this episode, host Shayle Kann sits down with Carrie von Muench, COO of Pacific Fusion and a former venture capitalist. Carrie brings a unique, investor-minded perspective to this singular challenge.
Shayle and Carrie dive into topics like:
Net facility gain, and the difference between breaking even at a target level versus breaking even across a facility’s tech stack.
The distinctions between steady-state and inertial fusion
Why Pacific Fusion is focused on building modular reactors
The company’s strategy of utilizing widely accessible commodities like oil, plastic, metal, and water instead of specialized materials that rely on shaky supply chains.
Unpacking the “ignition cliff;”the point at which a nuclear reactor shifts from relying on outside inputs to producing energy itself
Why Pacific Fusion emulated pharma's multi-tranche funding strategies to create milestones around capital deployments and de-risk its early execution
Resources
Catalyst: Is nuclear fusion getting close?
Catalyst: The state and future of nuclear waste
Catalyst: Building a domestic nuclear fuel supply chain
Open Circuit: Inside Meta’s massive nuclear push
Latitude Media: ARPA-E awards record $135 million to speed commercial fusion energy
Latitude Media: General Fusion’s $1 billion deal and the return of the SPAC
Latitude Media: Trump Media’s bizarre fusion play for TAE Technologies
Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Max Savage Levenson. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.
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This is a partner episode, brought to you by Bloom Energy.
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