#485 – David Kirtley: Nuclear Fusion, Plasma Physics, and the Future of Energy

David Kirtley is a nuclear fusion engineer and CEO of Helion Energy, a company working on building the world's first commercial fusion power plant by 2028.

Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep485-sc

See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.



Transcript:

https://lexfridman.com/david-kirtley-transcript



CONTACT LEX:

Feedback - give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey

AMA - submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama

Hiring - join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring

Other - other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact



EPISODE LINKS:

David's X: https://x.com/dekirtley

David's LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/4qX0KXp

Helion: https://www.helionenergy.com/

Helion's YouTube: https://youtube.com/HelionEnergy



SPONSORS:

To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts:

UPLIFT Desk: Standing desks and office ergonomics.

Go to https://upliftdesk.com/lex

Fin: AI agent for customer service.

Go to https://fin.ai/lex

Miro: Online collaborative whiteboard platform.

Go to https://miro.com/

LMNT: Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix.

Go to https://drinkLMNT.com/lex

BetterHelp: Online therapy and counseling.

Go to https://betterhelp.com/lex

Shopify: Sell stuff online.

Go to https://shopify.com/lex



OUTLINE:

(00:00) - Introduction

(03:00) - Sponsors, Comments, and Reflections

(11:35) - Nuclear fission vs fusion

(21:35) - Physics of E=mc^2

(26:50) - Is nuclear fusion safe?

(32:11) - Chernobyl

(38:38) - Geopolitics

(40:33) - Extreme scenarios

(47:28) - How nuclear fusion works

(1:20:20) - Extreme temperatures

(1:25:21) - Fusion control and simulation

(1:37:15) - Electricity from fusion

(2:11:20) - First fusion power plant in 2028

(2:18:13) - Energy needs of GPU clusters

(2:28:38) - Kardashev scale

(2:36:33) - Fermi Paradox



PODCAST LINKS:

- Podcast Website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast

- Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr

- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8

- RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/

- Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4

- Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/lexclips