General Fusion, Microsoft team up on data analysis

Canada's General Fusion is collaborating with US computing giant Microsoft to analyse its fusion energy experimental results using cloud-based big data techniques. This, the company says, will enable it to explore experimental plasma data in greater depth than previously possible.

The collaboration was announced at the Microsoft Build 2017 developer conference in Seattle on 12 May. Through the collaboration, General Fusion will work with Microsoft's Developer Experience Team to build a new, cutting-edge computational platform that will enable General Fusion to mine over 100 terabytes of data from the records of its 150,000 experiments.

The Microsoft Developer Experience Team will provide cloud computing resources and expertise in machine learning, cloud computing and data management using a variety of open source technologies in conjunction with the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.

General Fusion CEO Christofer Mowry said, "Our work with Microsoft brings together cutting-edge fusion research with modern data science tools and cloud computing techniques, demonstrating how new enabling technologies can accelerate progress in the development of fusion as a clean energy source." He added, "Advances in these enabling technologies, such as data processing and machine learning, are setting the stage for General Fusion to successfully complete our development program and make practical fusion energy a near-term reality."

Project manager Brendan Cassidy said, "General Fusion can produce as much as 100 gigabytes of experimental data per day. This project will give us the ability to examine this information in ways that were not previously possible."

General Fusion - founded in 2002 - is developing a magnetised target fusion system. This has three main components: a plasma injector, which supplies the fuel; an array of pistons, to compress the fuel; and a chamber of spinning liquid metal, to hold the fuel and capture the energy. The company says it is developing and optimising each of these components in preparation to build a demonstration fusion power plant.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News