Capability · Nuclear energy and propulsion
Fusion Energy
Generating power by fusing light nuclei such as deuterium and tritium, by magnetic, inertial, pulsed or other confinement approaches.
Assessment
Case for · why it matters
Fusion could provide electricity without carbon emissions, long-lived waste or meltdown risk, and in 2022 the National Ignition Facility produced more fusion energy than it injected. Fusion companies have drawn billions of dollars of private investment on top of federal grants.
Case against · the skeptic’s view
No fusion device has yet produced commercial electricity, and GAO found stakeholder timelines for commercial fusion range from 10 years to several decades. Materials that survive decades of heat and neutron damage are still unproven, and no facility exists to fully test them.
Who Builds It10
Fielded0
- —
Limited fielding0
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Prototype0
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Development4
Research1
Concept0
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Maturity not yet rated: General Atomics, Inertia, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
- Avalanche EnergyDeveloper · USDevelopment
- Chatwood Labs Ltd.Supplier · GBDevelopment
- Daedal SystemsSupplier · CADevelopment
- Marathon FusionSupplier · USDevelopment
- Pulsar FusionDeveloper · GBResearch
- General AtomicsDeveloperPublicly described capabilities; no product-wide maturity or TRL inferred.—
- InertiaDeveloper · USCompany-reported capability or material relationship; this mapping does not imply government endorsement, qualification or a contract.—
- Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryResearcher · USLaboratory research capability; not a claim of a commercial product or fielded system.—
- Lawrence Livermore National LaboratoryResearcher · USLaboratory research capability; not a claim of a commercial product or fielded system.—
- Princeton Plasma Physics LaboratoryResearcher · USLaboratory research capability; not a claim of a commercial product or fielded system.—
Placed by each organization's own maturity for this technology; TRL is self-reported or estimated, see confidence.
Systems20
| Alpha | Proxima Fusion | Other | — | — |
| Century | Zap Energy | Other | — | — |
| Dual Direct Fusion Drive | Pulsar Fusion | Engine | — | — |
| Eos | Thea Energy | Other | — | — |
| FAETON I | Fuse | Other | — | — |
| FuZE | Zap Energy | Other | — | — |
| FuZE-3 | Zap Energy | Other | — | — |
| FuZE-Q | Zap Energy | Other | — | — |
| Helicity Drive | Helicity Space | Engine | — | — |
Showing 1–9 of 20 systems