Thales and Marvel Fusion cooperate

Together, the two companies want to research how laser-based fusion can be used to generate energy.

French conglomerate Thales is collaborating with German fusion technology company Marvel Fusion and Romania's ELI-NP. The collaboration is about upgrading what it says is the world's most powerful laser facility. In Măgurele, Romania, the companies then plan to conduct joint research into energy generation through laser-based fusion. Marvel Fusion's goal is to present the building blocks of commercial fusion technology within three years.

With its own fusion power plants, Marvel Fusion aims to contribute to the energy self-sufficiency of the European continent. Instead of triggering fusion reactions through compression and externally supplied heat, as is usually the case, the company is relying on targeted particle acceleration using high-power lasers. In addition to ELI-NP, the company also has access to the CALA laser system in Munich. 65 million euros Marvel Fusion says it has raised so far. The company, founded in 2019, aims to build commercial power plants in the mid-2030s.

As part of the collaboration, France's Thales plans to incorporate a new optical stretcher into the laser system, part of a process that won Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics. Mourou is a member of Marvel Fusion's Science and Technology Board.