US Nuclear Corp., which is based in Canoga Park, got some good news last month from its partner company, Magneto-Inertial Fusion Technologies Inc.
Magneto-Inertial, which is based in Tustin, demonstrated its fusion technology at the L3 Harris Lab in San Leandro, where it produced a yield of 150 billion neutrons, the company said in a release.Â
“This is 10,000 times higher than achieved by any other private company in the world,” US Nuclear said.
US Nuclear is a partner, investor, and possible prime contractor for Magento-Inertial’s fusion-power generator.
The firm has exclusive rights to make and market the fusion reactors, which Magneto-Inertial plans to commercialize. The technology has applications in the development of radiopharmaceutical products used in nuclear medicine procedures; clean energy; and to power spaceships to Mars and beyond.
The technology has several timelines for commercialization, according to the company. The reactor could produce radiopharmaceutical products in months; clean energy could be produced in about three years; and powering spaceships to Mars and beyond is at least five to seven years off.
In 2018, US Nuclear bought a 10% stake in Miftec Laboratories Inc., a subsidiary of Magneto-Inertial. It also has a smaller percentage of ownership in the parent company.
“That’s okay, because (Magneto Inertial’s) eventual valuation could be in the trillions someday, so even a teeny amount is still a good bet in our opinion,” Robert Goldstein, chief executive of US Nuclear, told the Business Journal in 2020.
Also, about four years ago, the San Fernando Valley company took a 40% stake in Grapheton Inc., a San Diego company that makes components used in machine-brain interface devices.
With recent results of 150 billion neutrons per shot and predictions by leading computer predictive simulator codes of achieving greater then “break-even,” Magento-Inertial expects that its fusion reactors will be able to generate low-cost clean energy to the world’s electric power grids sooner than any other technology, US Nuclear said in a release.
Radioisotopes are used in several industries, most notably for advanced medical imaging.
The required number of neutrons to make radioisotopes is 10 to the 12th power, or about 1 trillion neutrons. Magneto-Inertial’s recent breakthrough was very close (10 to the 11th) to that required number, and the company is going back to L3 Harris next month for the next round of testing, US Nuclear said.
US Nuclear trades on the over-the-counter market. Its stock hit a high for the past 12 months when it closed at 18 cents on Feb. 2 of last year. It has lost about 57% in the 52-week period through Jan. 23.
US Nuclear has three subsidiaries: Technical Associates in Canoga Park, which makes radiation detection equipment; Overhoff Technologies in Milford, Ohio, which specializes in tritium detection equipment; and Electronic Control Concepts, also in Milford, which makes voltmeters to check industrial and medical X-ray machines.