Overview
- Helion reports its Polaris prototype reached 150 million degrees Celsius and produced measurable deuterium‑tritium fusion during January test campaigns.
- U.S. Department of Energy official Jean Paul Allain and outside expert Ryan McBride reviewed diagnostic data and characterized the gains as strong progress.
- The company previously secured authorization to handle tritium and says it is the first private venture to run deuterium‑tritium fuel through a fusion device.
- Helion’s field‑reversed‑configuration approach aims to harvest electricity directly from fusion‑driven magnetic changes, with plans to move from D‑T tests to a deuterium–helium‑3 fuel cycle it intends to breed in‑system.
- Construction of the 50‑megawatt Orion plant in Malaga, Washington is underway under a contract to supply Microsoft, and Helion maintains a 2028 target for first electricity to the grid that observers describe as aggressive.