General Fusion, a Canadian nuclear fusion energy startup, announced today that it had been thrown a lifeline in the form of $22 million in fresh funding. The company had laid off at least 25% of its employees in May in a bid to shore up its stretched finances. At the same time, CEO Greg Twinney wrote an open letter pleading for funding. The additional cash will give General Fusion some breathing room, though not much.
In December 1942, the first experiment to achieve a sustained nuclear reaction occurred beneath the University of Chicago in a reactor called 'Chicago Pile 1.' This marked confirmation of Szilard's theoretical idea of nuclear chain reactions, where a reactions can continue and sustain itself.