Canada-based General Fusion announced it has partnered with architecture firm, AL_A, to assist in the design of its Fusion Demonstration Plant (FDP).

General Fusion’s FDP will use Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) technology, which the company says "maximises the use of existing industrial technologies to create a faster path to fusion energy".

The MTF system uses a sphere filled with molten lead-lithium that is pumped to form a vortex. A pulse of magnetically-confined plasma fuel is then injected into the vortex. Around the sphere, pistons drive a pressure wave into the centre of the sphere, compressing the plasma to fusion conditions. This process is then repeated, while the heat from the reaction is captured in the liquid metal and used to generate electricity via a steam turbine.

AL_A founder and Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize-winning architect Amanda Levete will lead the design of the FDP facility to display the promise of fusion by integrating science with nature. The company’s fusion machine will sit at the heart of the building, visible to visitors, General Fusion said. Environmental designs will include educational corridors with informative displays that capture visitors’ imaginations as they contemplate a clean energy future.
 
“It will be a building that is not only highly efficient but one that also expresses the technological optimism of fusion to solve the energy problems of the world,” said Amanda Levete, founder and principal of AL_A. “The facility will project a confident message to the public about the extraordinary potential of this technology.”

Earlier this year General Fusion announced that it had entered into a strategic partnership with engineering and construction firm Hatch for its Fusion Demonstration Plant project.

Photo: Exterior rendering of the Fusion Demonstration Plant facility at night