# IP Group plc First Light Fusion aims to demonstrate fusion by mid-2019

- Link: https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/ip-group-plc-first-light-fusion-aims-to-demonstrate-fusion-by-mid-2019/412766982
- Published: 2019-02-12T09:55:07+00:00
- Author: Charlotte Edwards

**IP Group plc** (LON: IPO), the developer of intellectual property-based businesses,
notes the significant announcement by its portfolio company First Light Fusion Ltd
that it aims to demonstrate fusion using its ‘Machine 3’ by mid-2019.

First Light, in which IP Group holds an undiluted beneficial stake of 35.9%, valued
at £17.7 million, has announced that it has successfully completed building and 
testing its unique pulsed power device, Machine 3, the biggest pulsed power machine
in the world dedicated to researching fusion energy.

Machine 3 is capable of discharging up to 200,000 volts and in excess of 14 million
ampere – the equivalent of nearly 500 simultaneous lightning strikes – within two
microseconds. The £3.6m machine uses some 3km of high voltage cables and another
10km of diagnostic cables. Similar to a railgun, it will use electromagnetism to
fire projectiles at around 20km/s (enough to travel from London to New York in 4
minutes).

> **Nicholas Hawker, Founder and CEO of First Light Fusion, said:** “This is another
> major milestone for First Light Fusion. Commissioning of Machine 3 has been completed
> and performance has been confirmed to meet the design specification. We have now
> started our experimental campaigns. These will culminate in the first demonstration
> of fusion from one of our target designs. These targets have many elements and
> we are holding ourselves to a very high scientific standard, verifying operation
> of each element in isolation and cross-comparing with simulation predictions at
> all stages. We are confident we will show fusion this year. After fusion, the 
> next phase is to show energy gain, which we aim to complete by 2024.”

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