Helion opens dialogue with community on fusion power project

WENATCHEE – Approximately 350 people filled the Mission View Elementary gym to learn about the possible construction of the world’s first fusion power plant in Malaga during an information meeting on March 11.

Helion, an Everett-based energy company, is considering a 10-acre site on Chelan PUD property near Rock Island Dam to build the first fusion machine to produce electricity, if successful. The purpose of the power plant would be to fulfill a 50-megawatt power purchase agreement with Microsoft.

“Our goal is not just to provide electricity, but to provide electricity in a way that's clean and safe, that's really low cost,” said CEO and founder David Kirtley.

With fusion, the company promises clean and cost-efficient energy without the downsides of existing nuclear power (fission), which runs the risk of an uncontrolled chain reaction and associated nuclear proliferation, and has long-lived radioactive waste. 

However, the developing fusion machine, named Polaris, would be the first of its kind to produce electricity at a commercial level. So far, the company has produced six prototypes. Its sixth generation, Trenta, became “the first privately-funded fusion device to reach commercially-relevant fusion conditions.”

Helion hosted the informational meeting alongside Chelan County PUD and Chelan Douglas Regional Port Authority to answer questions and field concerns from the public about the groundbreaking power project. During the Q&A portion of the meeting, residents raised concerns of the reliability of executing the project, as well as impact on the public utility, property taxes, and the environment.

“There's got to be a cost. There's got to be a form of pollution that we don't understand…How do we harness that unknown?” said audience member Gary Koehler, who referenced the Hanford Nuclear site contamination and the Columbia River dams’ impact on salmon populations.

The company said its power plant footprint would be smaller than the size of a high school campus, its water usage would be comparable to a small hospital (100 to 300 gallons of water per minute), and its air emissions and radiation would be within Department of Health standards. The plant would also have a nitrogen fire suppression system. Additionally, Helion explained its radioactive byproduct tritium had a half-life of only 12.5 years.

“It decays into helium-3. So this becomes like a wine cellar. As it ages, it ages into our fuel. These valves can be opened up. We can pull that helium-3 out and put it back into our machine,” said Michael Hua, Helion Director of Radiation Safety and Nuclear Science.

Audience members also raised the question of both Helion and Microsoft’s impact on local taxpayers. Chelan Douglas Regional Port Authority Commissioner Donn Etherington said the new construction and raised assessed value from the projects would create “tax relief on your property taxes,” earning a round of applause from the gym. Additional concerns were raised with the large load growth impacting the local power utility.

“One of the things we hear loud and clear from you all is concerns about large load data centers and not using up the surplus hydropower electricity that we have…This is actually potentially helping in that regard, and coming up with an emerging technology that would address large loads. And so that's our interest here,” said Chelan County PUD General Manager Kirk Hudson.

In response to concerns about project abandonment, Kirtley said the company had enough private investment to construct the “buildings and all the generator infrastructure for the facility.” As part of the licensing process, the company also had to place the cost of decommissioning the site in a trust to ensure state-driven clean up was funded, said Hua.

The company is still in the process of permitting and agreements. If all goes to plan, it aims to deliver its first electrons to the grid by 2028, according to Helion Communications Director Jessie Barton. 

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media