JAPAN plans to build an experimental nuclear fusion plant in the country as a new way of producing energy without emitting carbon dioxide and radioactive nuclear waste.
Japanese company Kyoto Fusioneering Ltd aim to start operation of the plant in the next five years as it had already procured some of the needed funds and design works are in progress.
Its CEO Taka Nagao told Kyodo News that the experimental plant will be equipped with a heat exchanger and turbine in addition to a reactor that generates thermal energy to produce a small amount of electricity.
Its generation capacity is expected to be several dozen kilowatts.
Though experimental reactors to prove the feasibility of nuclear fusion reaction exist in Japan and abroad, "a plant that actually generates power is rare even on a global basis," Nagao said.
The venture was launched in 2019 and is partly funded by an investment firm set up by Kyoto University. It is led by Nagao and Satoshi Konishi, a professor at the Institute of Advanced Energy of Kyoto University.
According to the Kyodo report, the company develops equipment for nuclear fusion reactors, including a key device that effectively collects heat with a temperature of over 100 million Celsius generated in a reactor.
It also plans to use the plant to collect data for its development of devices.
With several billions of yen needed for the project, the company has already raised 1.3 billion yen from investment funds including one linked to state-backed fund Japan Investment Corp.
They also intend to borrow funds from megabanks such as MUFG Bank.
The company said more details on the project needed to be worked out, including details such as possible locations.
Talks are also planned with the central government and municipalities to further discuss these matters.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), fusion power generates electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions, when two lighter atomic nuclei combine and releases energy. Devices designed to harness this energy are known as fusion reactors.
The amount of energy produced from fusion is very large, up to four times as much as the currently used nuclear fission reactions.
Fusion process is also considered safer and does not produce the highly radioactive nuclear waste from operational nuclear power plants.
Focus in fusion energy has been increasing and US nuclear fusion startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems secured investments last year from Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates as well as Google.
The Japanese government has also been promoting research and development of fusion energy as a means to secure clean energy to cope with global warming.
The government plans to set up an expert panel in the near future to enhance support for the move.