E139: Make fusion energy, then repeat. Inertia Fusion, Part 1

About this episode

Molly Wood explores the recent advancements in fusion energy and the commercialization efforts by Inertia Energy in a two-part field trip.

Fusion has been “ten years away” for decades — but one corner of the field just crossed a line that changes the conversation. In December 2022, Lawrence Livermore National Lab’s National Ignition Facility achieved ignition: a self-sustaining fusion reaction that produced net energy. And they’ve repeated it. So what happens when you take the only fusion approach that’s proven to work, and focus less on new physics… and more on building the industrial supply chain to do it again and again, cheaply and reliably? You get a field trip! In part one of a two-part field trip to Livermore, California, Molly visits Inertia Energy’s “House of Fusion” to meet two of the company’s co-founders: Jeff Lawson (yes, that Jeff Lawson — founder of Twilio and majority owner of The Onion ) on the business case for commercializing ignition, and why Inertia thinks the economics are finally ready. Mike Dunn, former Lawrence Livermore power-plant designer and Stanford professor, on what it takes to turn a lab breakthrough into a power plant — from a gigawatt-scale “engine” that can follow renewables on the grid, to building a million precision fuel targets a day. We talk about: What “ignition” actually…

People in this episode

Host: Molly Wood

Guests: Jeff Lawson, Mike Dunn

Topics covered

• fusion energy
• ignition
• energy production
• industrial supply chain
• renewable energy
• commercialization

Keywords

• fusion
• energy
• ignition
• Inertia Energy
• Lawrence Livermore
• renewables
• commercialization
• power plant
• semiconductor manufacturing

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Lawrence Livermore National Lab, National Ignition Facility, Inertia Energy, Twilio, The Onion

Places: Livermore, California

More episodes of Everybody in the Pool

• E138: The Solar Revolution You Don't Need a Rooftop For · June 4, 2026 · 30 min
• E137: The Missing Ingredient for Fusion Energy · May 28, 2026 · 32 min
• E136: The “Recovering Real Estate Broker” Making Greener Buildings · May 21, 2026 · 33 min
• E135: The Battery That Pays You Back with Lunar Energy · May 14, 2026 · 43 min
• E134: Inside Denver's Local Climate Action Playbook · May 7, 2026 · 31 min
• E133: How a Little Tracker is Making Supply Chains Greener with Tive · April 30, 2026 · 31 min