HB11 Energy was a sponsor of and major contributor to the 5th International Workshop on Proton-Boron Fusion in Belgrade, Serbia, 8-11 September 2025. Hosted by the Institute of General and Physical Chemistry, Belgrade – the Workshop shared information regarding new experimental results, advanced fusion approaches, materials for targetry and nuclear reactors, theory and simulations, and applications.
Day 1: The 5th International conference on Proton Boron Fusion has kicked off in Belgrade. Headlining the first day was HB11 Energy scientific advisory board member, Prof. Dieter H.H. Hoffmann, followed shortly after by Marcus Borscz talking about simulations that account for “Suprathermal” effects.
These “Suprathermal” effects have been a missing component of fusion simulations developed over many decades – a fact that was uncovered when Lawrence Livermore achieved their first burning plasma. They were also the key to the ignition of hydrogen-boron fusion predicted by HB11’s founder Heinrich Hora. Congratulations Marcus for this invaluable work, developing a critical tool for the understanding of advanced fusion fuels.
Day 2: Day two of the 5th International conference on Proton Boron Fusion in Belgrade saw presentations from two HB11 Energy experiments. The first detailed our experiment at the Phelix Laser GSI in Darmstadt, Germany, in which we investigated how to most efficiently convert laser energy into MeV energy protons. This efficiency is critical in order to minimise the laser energy required to ignite a fusion burn with HB11 Energy’s approach of fast ignition.
Prof. Dimitri Batani, Chair of HB11 Energy’s Scientific Advisory Board, presented results from our second experiment at the LFEX laser facility in Osaka, Japan (photo). In this case, we investigated novel target shapes to enhance confinement of plasma as a means to increase fusion reactions.
High levels of fusion reactions were identified in both experiments, each using HB11-made targets, including 2 mg/cc low density foams and engineered boron structures. These targets are now available to the scientific community and other customers.
Day 3: The 2025 International Workshop on Proton Boron Fusion has now concluded. HB11 Energy’s target design work was a highlight of Day 3. This work is critical in order to optimise our fusion concept for the highest fusion yield, lower ignition requirements and therefore power plant costs, and ultimately to achieve the lowest cost of electricity.
To a positive response, HB11’s Anna Gorbanpour and Igor Morozov (photos) presented our suite of new and updated simulation tools with new theoretical insights, and the high-gain target designs they’ve identified.
