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August 11, 2023
Reo recovery guides nuclear fusion start up
Atereano Mateariki
Posted On August 11, 2023
A Māori scientist says the dedication of his grandmother, the late Kāterina Te Heikōkō Mataira, to reviving te reo Māori gave him his ‘no excuses’ attitude to developing fusion energy.
Ratu Mataira’s OpenStar start-up has secured more than $10 million in seed investment to work on creating a fusion reactor, which if successful would provide New Zealand with a a zero carbon emission, dependable baseload power source.
He says he was inspired by his grandmother’s response when the government of the day said the Maori language would become extinct.
“It really meant that I didn’t have any excuses. Building something up like this is super scary and I’ve got that role model that says nah no excuses, get on with it and give it a shot,” he says.
OpenStar hopes to have it first prototype reactor ready for testing by the end of this year.
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