Fusion

Energy from fusing light nuclei — the process that powers stars. Scientific ignition was demonstrated in 2022; engineering break-even and commercial power remain ahead.

Fusion is the only energy source that could be abundant, continuous, carbon-free and compact with no long-lived waste.

Public laboratories and a well-funded private sector pursue magnetic and inertial approaches. Materials, tritium fuel cycles and cost are the unresolved problems.

National laboratories

Ignition and plasma science.

International magnetic-confinement project

The largest tokamak under construction.

Private fusion companies

Compact designs on aggressive timelines.

1. December 2022

   Scientific ignition demonstrated

• Recent

  Grid operator publishes a fusion-integration scenario

  See The Signal.

High-temperature superconducting magnets; high-energy lasers; plasma-facing materials; tritium breeding blankets.

• Lawson criterion for ignition exceeded in an inertial fusion experiment, Physical Review Letters (2022)

1. 01Which approach reaches engineering break-even first?
2. 02Can plasma-facing materials last?
3. 03Will fusion be cost-competitive?

Ignition turned fusion from a physics problem into an engineering one.

First plasma at large new machines, private demonstration results, and materials breakthroughs.