Commonwealth Fusion Systems wins $85M CHIPS Act award for fusion-ready chips

The award is a CHIPS Act award from the Department of Commerce and also grants the U.S. government a stake in CFS, according to the company. CFS said the funding will help boost research and development and manufacturing capacity for semiconductors in the United States. The company is aiming to turn on its Sparc reactor sometime next year. TechCrunch reported that fusion startups have been racing to complete their first demonstration devices, and that building dozens of commercial power plants would require more durable power electronics and a robust supply chain.

TechCrunch reported that the award will support five initiatives, including work on silicon carbide power electronics. Those semiconductors are used to manage high voltages in products ranging from LEDs and electric vehicles to cell phone base stations and data centers. They are also used in fusion machines, where intense bursts of electricity drive the superconducting magnets that confine plasma inside a reactor.

The award will also back next-generation radio-frequency power generators, which CFS uses to heat fusion fuel, and advanced electronics intended to enable faster control of the reactor and be hardened against radiation. CFS said the radiation-hardened electronics could help extend the lifespan of electronics within a fusion power plant and reduce operating costs. Part of the CHIPS award is intended to adapt AI hardware such as GPUs and TPUs for power plants, the company said.

Brandon Sorbom, co-founder and chief science officer at CFS, wrote in a blog post: "Ultimately, that means a more capable, economical power plant and a stronger U.S. supply chain to build it." He also said: "The funding would help improve the U.S. chip and power electronics industries at the same time it accelerates fusion energy's progress toward the electrical grid."