KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — As efforts continue to add nuclear fusion energy to the power grid, the Tennessee Valley Authority and Knoxville-based Type One Energy signed the first set of commercial contracts related to Project Infinity. This project aims to supply the Tennessee Valley with secure, reliable, and clean energy as early as the mid-2030s.
Under the new contracts, TVA will use its Power Service Shops (PSS) facility in Alabama to develop custom welding and fabrication techniques and create parts for Project Infinity. These methods will be for Type One’s prototype stellarator fusion machine called Infinity One, which will be built at the Bull Run Fossil Plant.
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Mark Miles, Type One’s SVP of marketing and external affairs, said that as their designs evolved, they needed someone with the right manufacturing skills to help make it a reality.
“Frankly, [PSS has] the expertise to move forward with some of the manufacturing techniques that we need to better understand as we develop our power plant design. So in short, they know how to work on things and build things, and we needed that expertise. So we were able to, you know, to plug in with them and instead of having to do it all organically, or in-house,” he explained…