Two Races, One Playbook: What The Small Modular Reactor Scorecard Says About The US-China Fusion Race

The Special Competitive Studies Project’s latest Tech Scorecard finds China ahead of the United States in four of five categories for small modular reactors, with the US keeping its edge in innovation. Shaun Walsh argues that the same structural pattern, many privately funded American designs set against fewer state-backed Chinese programs with a deep construction base, is now visible in commercial fusion energy. According to CSIS, China mobilized at least $6.5B in public fusion funding between 2023 and 2025, against $2.34B spent by DoE’s Fusion Energy Sciences program over the same period, while the Fusion Industry Association counted a record $4.48B in private fusion funding in the 12 months to July 2026. The analysis also weighs where the two races differ, starting with the fact that fusion physics has not yet been retired at power-plant scale. It closes by examining two bills before Congress, the American Leadership in Fusion Act and the Fusion Advanced Manufacturing Parity Act, which target public test infrastructure and a domestic fusion supply chain.