MIT Researchers’ (Relatively) Cheap Fusion

Designing a smaller, cheaper fusion reactor.

An ARC reactor. Whyte says the acronym (“Affordable, Robust, Compact”) isn’t a reference to Iron Man’s power source. Sure.
Illustration: Chris Philpot

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By Olga Kharif

September 10, 2015 at 7:58 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

This article is part of the September 14, 2015 issue of businessweek.

Innovator: Dennis Whyte
Age: 51
Director of the Plasma Science and Fusion Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Form and function
Using new superconductive materials, Whyte’s team has designed a fusion reactor they say should be able to profitably generate grid-scale power using smaller equipment at a much lower cost than current models under development.