Pranos Fusion, a Bengaluru-based startup, is making strides towards developing India's first privately built nuclear fusion reactor. The company has constructed a small tokamak, named PRAGYA, to test critical components such as plasma control and superconducting magnets. The designs for a larger reactor, PRANIK, are expected to be finalized by 2027.
The PRANIK reactor aims to achieve the extreme conditions necessary for nuclear fusion, where hydrogen atoms are fused to produce energy. This process requires heating plasma to temperatures exceeding those found at the core of the Sun. The startup's co-founder and CEO, Shaurya Kaushal, highlighted that while the blueprint for PRANIK could be ready by 2027, generating electricity from fusion remains a more distant goal.
Pranos Fusion operates under the auspices of the Institute of Plasma Research and the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research in Bengaluru. These institutions are affiliated with India's Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Science and Technology, respectively. Unlike traditional nuclear power plants that rely on fission, fusion offers a safer alternative by avoiding the use of radioactive materials like uranium.
Fusion energy is generated when light atomic nuclei merge, typically involving deuterium and tritium, to form helium and a fast neutron. This process requires the fuel to be heated to around 100 million degrees Celsius, a temperature that no solid wall can withstand. Tokamaks use powerful magnets to contain this superheated plasma, preventing it from coming into contact with the reactor walls.
Pranos Fusion was recently showcased at the Emerging Science Technology and Innovation Conclave, where the potential of fusion energy was a focal point. The company's approach emphasizes the advantages of fusion, such as the absence of chain reactions, which significantly reduces the risk of runaway reactions that can occur in fission reactors.
Globally, the largest tokamak under construction is the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in France. This multinational project, involving China, the European Union, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the U. S., aims to produce ten times the heating power fed into its plasma. However, delays have pushed its research operations to 2034, with full deuterium-tritium operation expected by 2039, increasing the project's cost by €5 billion.
India's contributions to ITER are managed by the Institute of Plasma Research, which also oversees domestic tokamak reactors like ADITYA and the Steady State Tokamak (SST-1). The cost of developing a private tokamak varies significantly based on scale. compact research machines like PRAGYA require a modest investment, while reactors designed to achieve net energy gain demand much larger financial commitments.
Private fusion companies worldwide have collectively raised over $13 billion, with leading programs securing hundreds of millions of dollars each. Pranos Fusion has garnered $7.2 million in funding from investors such as Ankur Capital, pi Ventures, and Industrial47. The company believes that India's manufacturing capabilities, combined with compact machines and high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets, can substantially reduce costs.
HTS electromagnets, which are crucial to the tokamak's operation, are made from materials that conduct electricity without resistance when cooled below a critical temperature. These magnets have achieved fields of around 20 tesla in tests, enabling the development of smaller, more efficient machines.
In recent advancements, the UK's JET tokamak set a record by producing 69 megajoules of fusion energy in 2023, although this was still less than the heating power supplied. Meanwhile, the U. S. National Ignition Facility achieved ignition in December 2022, releasing more fusion energy than the laser light delivered to the fuel, though this did not account for the electricity needed to power the lasers.
Pranos Fusion is structured to generate value from its technology even before a power plant is operational. The company has developed two platforms: JENGA, a simulation, design, and control software that acts as a digital twin of the machine, and MAGGA, its HTS magnet program. These initiatives are designed to advance the company's technological capabilities and contribute to the broader field of nuclear fusion research.
