From Impossible to Obvious: OpenStar’s Fast-Track Approach to Fusion

What does it take to achieve nuclear fusion in less time than it takes to build a traditional power plant prototype? In this episode of Wild Hearts, we’re joined by Ratu Mataira, CEO of OpenStar, a company that just hit the crucial "first plasma" milestone in a staggering 16 months. 

We unpack the misconceptions surrounding fusion, the unique design of OpenStar’s levitated dipole reactor, and why the pathway to commercial fusion might be shorter -and more valuable - than most people think.

🔍 In this conversation, we cover:

⚡ How OpenStar achieved first plasma in just 16 months—years faster than competitors

💥 Why fusion isn’t “30 years away” anymore—and never really was

📉 How misconceptions about cost, scale and safety are holding the industry back

🔩 The engineering breakthrough that allows OpenStar to iterate faster

🧪 Why their first product won’t be a power plant—and what it might be instead

🏥 Medical isotopes, nuclear waste and imaging: the early use cases for fusion

🔧 “Always include a crank”: how failure tolerance fuels rapid learning

🚀 The startup mindset behind building a trillion-dollar fusion company

This episode goes beyond fusion hype; it’s a candid look at how OpenStar is breaking barriers in one of the world’s hardest engineering challenges.