Singapore to be ‘early entrant’ in nuclear fusion supply chain with A*Star, US startup deal

[SINGAPORE] Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), the world’s largest private company in nuclear fusion energy, has inked a five-year collaboration deal with Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star).

The move will support Singapore’s efforts to be “an early entrant in the global fusion energy supply chain”, A*Star and CFS announced on Wednesday (May 20) at the Ecosperity Week conference.

The partnership will focus on technologies for commercial nuclear fusion power plants. This includes CFS’ own design, dubbed the “ARC” power plant, which stands for “affordable, robust, compact”.

A*Star and CFS will also work on potential applications for the aerospace industry and other advanced engineering sectors.

CFS, spun off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2018, is among the leading global startups in the race to commercialise nuclear fusion energy, a nascent form of nuclear power. Its investors include Temasek and Google.

Nuclear fusion involves fusing two variants of hydrogen at extreme heat to release immense amounts of energy. This replicates how the sun produces energy, without producing any long-lived radioactive waste.

In contrast, present-day nuclear energy is typically produced from nuclear fission, or the splitting of uranium, that results in radioactive waste.

While nuclear fusion is still in its early days, CFS aims to hit commercial-scale generation by the early 2030s. It is set to begin construction on a plant in the US state of Virginia in 2027, based on past media reports.

The startup also previously worked with A*Star and defence technology player ST Engineering to produce components for a demonstration machine.

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Bob Mumgaard, CEO and co-founder of CFS, expects working with A*Star to accelerate commercialisation.

“Singapore possesses major capabilities in advanced manufacturing and materials engineering. (It has) deployed these capabilities in the shipbuilding, aerospace and semiconductor sectors,” he noted.

The collaboration will also allow Singapore companies to build capabilities in high-value, next-generation manufacturing, said Professor Lim Keng Hui, assistant CEO of A*Star’s Science and Engineering Research Council.

Global investment in nuclear fusion has exceeded S$19.1 billion. Temasek is an early investor in CFS, having led one of the startup’s Series A rounds.