David Kirtley: Nuclear Fusion, Plasma Physics, and the Future of Energy | Lex Fridman Podcast #485

Description

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-sb 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://lexfridman.com/s/uplift_desk-ep485-sb *Fin:* AI agent for customer service. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/fin-ep485-sb *Miro:* Online collaborative whiteboard platform. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/miro-ep485-sb *LMNT:* Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/lmnt-ep485-sb *BetterHelp:* Online therapy and counseling. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/betterhelp-ep485-sb *Shopify:* Sell stuff online. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/shopify-ep485-sb *OUTLINE:* 0:00 - Introduction 3:14 - Nuclear fission vs fusion 13:14 - Physics of E=mc^2 18:28 - Is nuclear fusion safe? 23:50 - Chernobyl 30:17 - Geopolitics 32:12 - Extreme scenarios 39:07 - How nuclear fusion works 1:11:59 - Extreme temperatures 1:17:00 - Fusion control and simulation 1:28:54 - Electricity from fusion 2:02:59 - First fusion power plant in 2028 2:09:52 - Energy needs of GPU clusters 2:20:16 - Kardashev scale 2:28:12 - Fermi Paradox *PODCAST LINKS:* - Podcast Website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast - Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/