First Light Fusion Ltd is a lean, focused and agile corporation researching energy generation by inertial confinement fusion. The company was spun out from the University of Oxford in June 2011 and is based near Oxford. First Light continues to work closely with the academic community, both in the UK and internationally. The company is well-funded by both institutional investors and private individuals.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Based in Oxford, First Light Fusion directly employs a team of engineers and physicists, as well as collaborating closely with a number of academic organisations.
- First Light Fusion believe they can achieve nuclear fusion gain in a robust and practical manner, enabling a realistic prospect for affordable electricity generation.
- First Light Fusion, has recently raised $25 million enabling them to add 23 new employees across its science, engineering and simulation departments taking the total team to over 60.First Light Fusion: The Future of Electricity Generation and a Clean Base Load?
What is First Light Fusion?
First Light Fusion Ltd was spun out from the University of Oxford in July 2011, with seed capital from the IP Group plc, Parkwalk Advisors Ltd and a number of Angel investors. Until May 2014, the company was named Oxyntix Ltd.
The company was founded by Professor Yiannis Ventikos, who is currently the Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department at University College, London, and Dr Nicholas Hawker, formerly an Engineering lecturer at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
Based in Oxford, First Light Fusion directly employs a team of engineers and physicists, as well as collaborating closely with a number of academic organisations, including the University of Oxford, Warwick University, UCL and Imperial College, London.
Nuclear Fusion Key Takeaways
Taken from our previous nuclear definition post on nuclear fusion:
Nuclear Fusion was first demonstrated in a laboratory in1932.
Nuclear Fusion has been just a couple of decades away from commercialisation since 1955.
Nuclear fusion is the joining (or fusing) of two larger atoms releasing a huge amount of energy in the process.
The fuel for a nuclear fusion reactors is Hydrogen and the only by-product would be Helium.
Nuclear fission produces one million times more energy than coal. Nuclear fusion provides 3-4 times more energy than fission.
How will First Light Fusion provide affordable electricity generation?
Rather than attempting to avoid instabilities, First Light Fusion harness them, working with complexity from the start. With this approach, they have discovered advanced implosion processes that achieve high temperatures and compressions.
First Light Fusion believe they can achieve nuclear fusion gain in a robust and practical manner, enabling a realistic prospect for affordable electricity generation.
Careers at First Light Fusion
First Light Fusion, has recently raised $25 million from both existing and new investors. The new funding will enable First Light to add 23 new employees across its science, engineering and simulation departments taking the total team to over 60 and allowing the company to significantly upgrade computational and experimental resources.
First Light are constantly looking for talented and motivated pulsed power engineers, experimental, theoretical, and numerical physicists, CNC machinists, design engineers and more.
Apply for one of their currently open positions by heading over to the careers page on their website.
