ATLANTA, GA, September 04, 2026 /24-7PressRelease/ -- ZC Institute, an Atlanta-based fusion energy company working at the frontier of physics to transform what's possible for energy on Earth and beyond, announced plans today for Kardashev One, a fusion prototype reactor designed to recover energy that today's fusion reactors lose as escaping radiation and neutrons. As a critical step toward that long-term goal, ZC Institute has engaged Professor Jason Cassibry and his team at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) to independently test the field-distortion technology the concept depends on.

Every fusion approach in use today, inertial confinement (lasers) and magnetic confinement (tokamaks), loses substantial energy as escaping electromagnetic radiation and neutrons. No fusion reactor built to date has produced a net energy profit from the reactor system as a whole. Magnetic fields, which hold charged particles in place, cannot contain neutral particles like neutrons or electromagnetic radiation. That energy simply escapes into the reactor walls, driving up costs and creating long-lived radioactive waste that complicates maintenance and decommissioning.

"Fusion is the holy grail of energy, the pinnacle of what we're capable of," said Dr. Chance M. Glenn, Sr., founder of Morningbird Space, explaining that the sun serves as 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, work since published in peer-reviewed journals. Using that same technique, Glenn's team demonstrated that the ESD device can deflect photons, a result that remains foundational to the work now continuing under the fusion reactor prototype.

ZC Institute has licensed the ESD technology from Morningbird Space to implement the next step: deflecting neutrons the same way photons have been deflected and channeling them back into the fusion reaction rather than letting that energy escape. The vision is for Kardashev One 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. If my work can help enable that, I'm proud to be part of it," Glenn said.

Glenn is bringing his field-distortion apparatus to the University of Alabama in Huntsville, where Professor Jason Cassibry's lab is serving as an independent third-party testing site. Cassibry's team, made up largely of undergraduate and graduate students, is building the neutron-generating equipment the assessment requires and will report its 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," said Cassibry.

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 back 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 the 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 how future fusion reactors are designed, 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 in a way that produces 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 what's possible for human and robotic exploration.

About ZC Institute

ZC Institute is an Atlanta-based fusion energy company working at the frontier of physics to transform what's possible for energy on Earth and beyond. Founded by Greg Hodgin, the company is pursuing Kardashev One, a fusion reactor prototype concept that would pair a conventional tokamak with licensed spacetime-distortion technology to trap and redirect the radiation and neutron losses that have kept fusion from reaching net-positive power. ZC Institute works with a network of academic and industry advisors, including researchers at Morningbird Space and the University of Alabama in Huntsville, to develop and independently validate the science behind its approach. For more information, visit www.zcinstitute.com or email [email protected].

About Morningbird Space

Morningbird Space is a space technology company developing additive manufacturing, autonomous construction, and advanced propulsion systems, including research into experimental spacetime distortion funded by the National Science Foundation. Founded by Dr. Chance M. Glenn, Sr., the company partners with government, academic, and private organizations, including the AAMU-RISE Foundation and NASA, to bring its technologies from concept to commercialization. For more information, visit www.morningbirdspace.com.

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