#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: See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. Transcript: CONTACT LEX: Feedback – give feedback to Lex: AMA – submit questions, videos or call-in: Hiring – join our team: Other – other ways to get in touch: EPISODE LINKS: David’s X: David’s LinkedIn: Helion: Helion’s YouTube: SPONSORS: To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts: UPLIFT Desk: Standing desks and office ergonomics. Go to Fin: AI agent for customer service. Go to Miro: Online collaborative whiteboard platform. Go to LMNT: Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix. Go to BetterHelp: Online therapy and counseling. Go to Shopify: Sell stuff online. Go to 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: – Apple Podcasts: – Spotify: – RSS: – Podcast Playlist: – Clips Channel:

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#485 – David Kirtley: Nuclear Fusion, Plasma Physics, and the Future of Energy is an episode from Lex Fridman Podcast by Lex Fridman.

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This episode was published on Nov 17, 2025.

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