Avalanche Energy receives share of $5.2M DOD award to develop long-lasting ‘nuclear batteries’
Seattle fusion startup Avalanche Energy has been awarded a share of a $5.2 million contract announced Wednesday from the US Department of Defense to develop fusion nuclear batteries.
The award comes from DARPA’s Rads to Watts program, which focuses on developing long-lasting batteries for defense and space applications where chemical batteries, solar power and fossil fuels are not feasible.
Avalanche focuses on the engineering of energy cells made of tiny materials that convert alpha particles emitted by radioactive materials into electricity. The process, the team said, is similar to solar cells that convert photons into electricity.
“The goals are to produce a machine with a long lifespan, and one that can generate more power than current technology,” said Daniel Velázquez, Avalanche’s scientist and materials scientist. The target is a battery that can continue to power a laptop, for example, for months but weighs 10 pounds.
And the timeline is tight. At the end of the 30-month program, the goal is to verify the physics involved and build a prototype that produces power.
“It’s a big wish,” Velázquez said.
Avalanche leads the team tackling DARPA’s nuclear battery challenge, which includes the University of Utah, Caltech, Los Alamos National Laboratory and McQuaide Microsystems.
Others are also working on nuclear batteries, including Seattle’s Zeno Power. The startup plans to demonstrate its first radioisotope power system this year and produce nuclear batteries by 2027.
While Avalanche is ultimately working to develop a compact machine that creates energy through fusion — the reaction that powers the sun — the DARPA project fits right into that long-term goal, Velázquez said. There are direct parallels in capturing the energy of a nuclear battery and a fusion reaction.
That should help the company compete in the global race to commercialize fusion energy, which can provide nearly limitless amounts of clean energy. To support local businesses, the Department of Energy is expected to commit a record $135 million over 18 months to accelerate fusion research, reports Axios today.
The demand for new energy is increasing with the expansion of data centers and the shift from fossil fuels to electricity.
Since its launch in 2018, Avalanche has pursued multiple revenue streams. Last month, the company announced that it was part of a team that received $1.25 million from AFWERX, a new division of the Department of the Army, to develop advanced equipment for high-risk areas.
Other efforts include using its fusion machine to produce neutrons for retail customers; a Pentagon contract to develop space propulsion technology; and a grant to launch FusionWERX, a commercial-scale testing facility for fusion technology in Eastern Washington.
In February, Avalanche announced $ 29 million in new funding from investors, bringing its total to more than $ 105 million in all venture capital and government grants – a war chest that the company distributes across all nuclear batteries, propulsion and now.
