1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,800 Speaker 1: The government is putting thirty five million dollars into a 2 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:05,600 Speaker 1: local fusion energy company. Now that's a reasonable injection of 3 00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:08,440 Speaker 1: taxpayer money, especially given no one in the world appears 4 00:00:08,440 --> 00:00:11,160 Speaker 1: to have cracked fusion energy just yet. Fusion is, by 5 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: the way, the process that powers the sun and the stars. 6 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:18,000 Speaker 1: And Ratumataida is the CEO of open Star Technologies based 7 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: in Wellington. 8 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,480 Speaker 2: That ratsu Hello, Hello, Heather, thank you for having me on. 9 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, no, you're welcome. Thirty five million dollars is a 10 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 1: fair chunk of change. What are you going to do 11 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 1: with it? 12 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,479 Speaker 2: So their capital is there to help support building a 13 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 2: facility in New Zealand that will allow us to undertake 14 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 2: our next major project, that's building a device we call Tahi, 15 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,239 Speaker 2: and so we are the ones who have to go 16 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 2: raise the capital to actually build the machine. But the 17 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,480 Speaker 2: government is effectively stepping in to help build the facility 18 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 2: that we need to be able to do that. 19 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 1: And Altiro, Okay, if you raise the money for Tahi, 20 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 1: what does Tahi do? 21 00:00:56,480 --> 00:01:02,639 Speaker 2: So Tahi is a global scale fusion demonstration device. So 22 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 2: really what we're looking at is lots of different ways 23 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 2: of doing fusion and open Star is pushing forward a 24 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 2: particular approach. We basically need to show the world that 25 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 2: our approach is as valid, if not absolutely better than 26 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:19,640 Speaker 2: the other ways that people have done this are before. 27 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 2: Tahi is of a scale that will actually achieve that 28 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 2: in a way that scientists, engineers, business people, government, governments 29 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 2: across the world will have no choice but to recognize how. 30 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:37,760 Speaker 1: Far away do you reckon? We are years wise, time 31 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:41,760 Speaker 1: wise from being able to actually crack fusion energy and 32 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:42,440 Speaker 1: make it work. 33 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 2: So there's a couple of steps to that. I think 34 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 2: very legitimately it will be the early twenty thirties where 35 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 2: we see more energy out than in and actually giving 36 00:01:55,800 --> 00:02:00,120 Speaker 2: people electricity out of a fusion machine. Now that's not 37 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 2: really what you're asking. The real question is when will 38 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 2: it impact people's lives? When will people see a reduction 39 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 2: in their power bill? Because we have fusion reactors being 40 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 2: deployed around the world, and that's actually, you know, probably 41 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 2: the real challenge. There's no point developing these machines if 42 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 2: they can't solve problems for real people in their everyday lives. 43 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,960 Speaker 2: And that's a challenge that starts. You know, we've got 44 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 2: a good shot at in the early twenty thirties, but 45 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:30,799 Speaker 2: we'll be spending the decade and the decade after that 46 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 2: rolling that out to humanity and hopefully, yeah, making the 47 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:36,799 Speaker 2: difference that needs to be made. 48 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:38,639 Speaker 1: So ten plus years possibly. 49 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:43,040 Speaker 2: For our first impact. Yeah, okay, So. 50 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: What does the government get for thirty five million dollars? 51 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 1: Does it get a stake in the business. 52 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 2: There is potentially a portion of that arrangement. I won't 53 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 2: get into details on that, but there is room for 54 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 2: something like that. But importantly, the reason why we're focused 55 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 2: on a facility is to balance the risk reward for 56 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:07,679 Speaker 2: say the private investors into open Star, who are taking 57 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:09,800 Speaker 2: a bet on us as a technology and a team, 58 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 2: versus the government who have to take a longer term view. 59 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 2: And so the support being focused on a facility means 60 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:21,119 Speaker 2: that we come in, we build Tahi, but that facility 61 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 2: will exist after Tahi is complete. It will exist after 62 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 2: open Star is done. And I can tell you that 63 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 2: we are not the only project that could use a 64 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 2: facility like that, because these kinds of facilities exist around 65 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:37,120 Speaker 2: the world and it's time that New Zealand had that infrastructure. 66 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: Yeah that's fair enough, thank you very much. I really 67 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 1: appreciate us in the tighter, Open Star Technology CEO. For 68 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, Listen live to news talks. 69 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:50,760 Speaker 1: It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast 70 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:51,880 Speaker 1: on iHeartRadio