ZC Institute Unveils Fusion Reactor Prototype Plans and Independent Neutron-Deflection Tests

ZC Institute, an Atlanta-based fusion energy company, has announced plans for Kardashev One, a prototype fusion reactor designed to recapture energy that current fusion reactors lose as escaping radiation and neutrons. To validate the core technology, the company has engaged Professor Jason Cassibry and his team at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) to independently test the field-distortion technology on which the concept depends.

Every fusion approach currently in use, whether inertial confinement via lasers or magnetic confinement via tokamaks, suffers from substantial energy losses in the form of electromagnetic radiation and neutrons. To date, no fusion reactor has achieved a net energy profit from the entire reactor system. Magnetic fields, which confine charged particles, cannot contain neutral particles like neutrons or electromagnetic radiation. This escaping energy impacts reactor walls, driving up costs and creating long-lived radioactive waste that complicates maintenance and decommissioning.

Dr. Chance M. Glenn Sr., founder of Morningbird Space, explained that fusion is the holy grail of energy, as the sun demonstrates a stable fusion reaction. In October 2024, Glenn's lab at Alabama A&M University produced and detected a measurable, lab-scale spacetime distortion using a high-voltage electrostatic discharge (ESD) spark gap and laser interferometry, a result published in peer-reviewed journals. Building on that, Glenn's team demonstrated the ESD device can deflect photons, a finding that underpins the current work on the fusion reactor prototype.

ZC Institute has licensed the ESD technology from Morningbird Space to take the next step: deflecting neutrons in a similar manner to photons and channeling them back into the fusion reaction rather than allowing that energy to escape. The vision for Kardashev One is to pair a conventional tokamak with the licensed ESD spacetime-distortion technology.

"What's unique about our approach is recovering neutrons and steering them back into the reaction, making it not just stable, but efficient, creating more energy than you put in," Glenn said. "If my work can help enable that, I'm proud to be part of it."

Glenn is bringing his field-distortion apparatus to UAH, where Professor Cassibry's lab will serve as an independent third-party testing site. Cassibry's team, composed largely of undergraduate and graduate students, is building the neutron-generating equipment required for the assessment and will report findings back to ZC Institute.

"A technology like this, which could deflect neutrons and perhaps insulate against radiation losses, would be transformational in terms of controlled thermonuclear fusion for power and propulsion," Cassibry noted.

Once the hardware is commissioned, Cassibry's team will run Glenn's apparatus against its neutron sources, assess whether the claimed field-distortion effect holds up, and submit a data report to ZC Institute. The testing is expected this fall and represents an early, independent step toward determining whether escaping neutrons and radiation could someday be steered back into the plasma rather than lost to reactor walls.

"Every other fusion company is cooking with the pot lid off," said Greg Hodgin, founder and CEO of ZC Institute. "We're the first fusion company trying to put the lid on. Our prototype will finally show that fusion is viable on Earth."

If Glenn's approach holds up under independent testing, the ability to trap radiation and control neutrons could substantially simplify the design of future fusion reactors, easing one of the field's hardest engineering problems and reducing long-term damage to reactor walls and support structures. ZC Institute cautions that significant work remains between this validation step and a fielded reactor, including demonstrating that the effect can be scaled to produce more usable energy than it consumes.

If the approach works as hoped, the same neutron-management tools could support both terrestrial fusion power plants and advanced space-propulsion concepts, where compact, high-power fusion systems could shorten mission times and expand possibilities for human and robotic exploration.