During its meeting on June 17, City Council approved a Purchase Option Agreement that allows Pacific Fusion and its development partner, Hines, to purchase a 13-acre site on Alameda Point for the development of a nuclear fusion research and demonstration facility. The facility would enable the startup to advance its work towards creating a commercially viable approach for providing fusion power.
Upon project completion, currently slated for 2030, the facility will introduce 250 new jobs and will house offices, laboratory spaces, and its pulser demonstration system that initiates nuclear fusion reactions. In a presentation to Council, Director of Base Reuse and Economic Development Abby Thorne-Lyman emphasized that the facility will not be a power plant and that the pulser system will be used only once per day.
Over the past several months, Pacific Fusion has interacted extensively with community members and engaged the Planning Board during a project listening session. While feedback from the public has been generally positive, some have expressed uneasiness with the use of tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, in the fusion reaction process. To assuage these concerns, Thorne-Lyman revealed that a third-party review, commissioned by the City, of potential health risks stemming from the new facility found that the overall risk to the community is low.
“Our consultants modeled the worst possible case of community exposure to tritium,” explained Thorne-Lyman, “and they found that even in this worst case, the exposure was within the safety thresholds of the EPA and the California Department of Public Health.”
Pacific Fusion’s Infrastructure Lead, Courtney Richardson, offered further clarification that the use and handling of radiological materials would be similar to processes at universities and hospitals.
Under the terms of the purchase option, Pacific Fusion and Hines will meet the purchase price of $28.9 million by delivering a backbone infrastructure package of roadway improvements and connections to existing sewer, stormwater, and electrical infrastructure around the project site—a strategy intended to catalyze future commercial development at the Enterprise District in Alameda Point. Additional provisions encourage the timely delivery of the project and provide terms for cost overruns.
Public comment
Public speakers included more than two dozen students, business owners, and community members. Nearly all spoke in favor of the project…