4 ms·

This doesn't appear to be just a PR stunt to me given that Nucor is also directly investing $35 million in Helion as part of the agreement. If you're going to p

This doesn't appear to be just a PR stunt to me given that Nucor is also directly investing $35 million in Helion as part of the agreement. If you're going to post the usual fusion naysayer comment I think you should at least address this part of the announcement as well.

sebzim4500 3y ago
They wouldn't be the first company to spend $35M on marketing. They also don't specify the payment schedule, if they are supposed to give some of it in 5 years then there is a decent chance Helion won't exist once it is time to collect.
- KingOfCoders 3y ago
  Or payment/milestone criteria.
foobarqux 3y ago
Nucor's net income for 2022 was $7.5 billion dollars. This isn't a meaningful investment.
barryrandall 3y ago
Given the history of fusion announcements, I suspect the only thing people are willing to listen to is "we successfully delivered power from a fusion reactor fueled by $fuel to a paying customer in $place, and the only byproducts were $waste_product."
runako 3y ago
Helion likely will spend a portion of that $35 million purchasing steel for its reactors. This smells like a form of vendor financing.
lucas_membrane 3y ago
> $35 million Putting $35 million on the table to accomplish what has eluded us for so long and is supposed to sustain modernity for the next 1000 years is small enough to convince me that this is more promotion than promise. That's about about 1% of the cost of this steel mill, (https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/sep/17/us-steel-to-build-3-billion-mill-as-rally-endures/ https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/sep/17/us-steel-to-bu...) which is called a mini-mill in the link. Boxers have earned much more for a single fight; $35 million might buy a CEO for a year, but it is less than half the cost of a Hollywood film, of which we get a few each week, or of a 10-bedroom home on 5th Avenue.
cpleppert 3y ago
Helion has never demonstrated that their technology actually works on any scale. Even if they magically made breakthroughs and were able to hypothetically build a prototype plant it would be almost impossible to solve the operational challenges to build a commercial scale plant in seven years. It would be far more challenging than building a nuclear plant for example. That ignores all the complexity of their D-He3 aneutronic fusion cycle; they probably cannot operate a commercial scale power plant (that would presumably use D-He3) without having first constructed D-D reactors.

sebzim4500 3y ago

They wouldn't be the first company to spend $35M on marketing. They also don't specify the payment schedule, if they are supposed to give some of it in 5 years then there is a decent chance Helion won't exist once it is time to collect.

KingOfCoders 3y ago
Or payment/milestone criteria.

foobarqux 3y ago

Nucor's net income for 2022 was $7.5 billion dollars. This isn't a meaningful investment.

barryrandall 3y ago

Given the history of fusion announcements, I suspect the only thing people are willing to listen to is "we successfully delivered power from a fusion reactor fueled by $fuel to a paying customer in $place, and the only byproducts were $waste_product."

runako 3y ago

Helion likely will spend a portion of that $35 million purchasing steel for its reactors. This smells like a form of vendor financing.

lucas_membrane 3y ago

> $35 million Putting $35 million on the table to accomplish what has eluded us for so long and is supposed to sustain modernity for the next 1000 years is small enough to convince me that this is more promotion than promise. That's about about 1% of the cost of this steel mill, (https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/sep/17/us-steel-to-build-3-billion-mill-as-rally-endures/ https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/sep/17/us-steel-to-bu...) which is called a mini-mill in the link. Boxers have earned much more for a single fight; $35 million might buy a CEO for a year, but it is less than half the cost of a Hollywood film, of which we get a few each week, or of a 10-bedroom home on 5th Avenue.

cpleppert 3y ago

Helion has never demonstrated that their technology actually works on any scale. Even if they magically made breakthroughs and were able to hypothetically build a prototype plant it would be almost impossible to solve the operational challenges to build a commercial scale plant in seven years. It would be far more challenging than building a nuclear plant for example. That ignores all the complexity of their D-He3 aneutronic fusion cycle; they probably cannot operate a commercial scale power plant (that would presumably use D-He3) without having first constructed D-D reactors.