---
title: "MIT Is Pouring Resources Into Commercializing Fusion Power"
description: "A collaboration between MIT and two energy companies is encouraging interdisciplinary research to fast-track the development of practical fusion power."
date: "2019-01-12"
modified: "2019-01-12"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/mit-commercializing-fusion-power"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "fusion"
  - "mit"
  - "power"
  - "the digest"
---

# MIT Is Pouring Resources Into Commercializing Fusion Power

![A collaboration between MIT and two energy companies is encouraging interdisciplinary research to fast-track the development of practical fusion power.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/mit-commercializing-fusion-power.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory\</em\>*

## Fusion Power

A collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and two energy companies is encouraging interdisciplinary research to fast-track the development of [practical fusion power](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/fusion-reactions-stabilize>).

Mechanical engineer Caroline Sorensen [told an MIT blogger](<http://news.mit.edu/2019/tapping-mit-talent-pool-future-fusion-0111>) about her work on a "liquid immersion blanket," which is a pool of molten salt that converts fusion reactions into heat and protects the rest of the reactor from damage.

"I’m working on the blanket because for me that’s where the rubber meets the road," Sorenson said. "We need to figure out this kind of technology in order to make fusion plants functional and economical."

## Interdisciplinary Research

MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center is working with a private company called Commonwealth Fusion Systems to "carry out rapid, staged research leading to a new generation of fusion experiments and power plants based on advances in high-temperature superconductors," according to the institute. The work is funded in part by an [Italian energy company called Eni](<https://futurism.com/cells-and-dna-a-basic-breakdown>), which contributed $50 million.

Many researchers at the project are nuclear engineers and plasma physicists, according to the MIT blog post, but its leadership is also working to draw in specialists in other disciplines, like Sorenson.

"There are a lot of cool things to be done from a technical perspective," Sorenson said. "Plus this work holds the possibility of making a huge impact on the world. This is exactly the kind of project that I came to MIT hoping to find."

**READ MORE:** [Tapping the MIT talent pool for the future of fusion](<http://news.mit.edu/2019/tapping-mit-talent-pool-future-fusion-0111>) \[MIT\]

***More on fusion power:** [Experts: United States Should Build a Prototype Fusion Power Plant](<https://futurism.com/fusion-power-plant-prototype>)*

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)