Things You Gotta Know
US Fusion Strategy Stuck in the Past as China Moves Ahead, CEO Warns
Commonwealth Fusion Systems CEO Bob Mumgaard is warning of a potential "Sputnik moment" in the global fusion race, arguing that U.S. infrastructure has remained largely unchanged since the 1990s while China coordinates universities, national labs, and private companies around an estimated $6 to $12 billion fusion investment. China launched China Fusion Energy Co. Ltd (CFEC) in July 2025 with registered capital of 15 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) and is building BEST, a facility expected to demonstrate fusion electricity generation first in history. Mumgaard urged the U.S. government to adopt public-private collaboration models similar to SpaceX and Operation Warp Speed, noting that CFS's SPARC reactor in Massachusetts should be operational by late 2026 or early 2027, with a commercial fusion plant near Richmond, Virginia targeted for the early 2030s.
China's EAST Tokamak Sustains Plasma for Record 1,066 Seconds
China's Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) achieved a world record on January 20, 2025, maintaining steady-state high-confinement plasma at over 100 million degrees Celsius for 1,066 seconds, more than doubling its previous 403-second record from 2023. The Institute of Plasma Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences noted that sustained operation for thousands of seconds is essential for continuous power generation in future fusion plants. France's WEST tokamak subsequently broke this record on February 12, maintaining plasma for 1,337 seconds. Both achievements provide critical operational data for ITER and demonstrate maturing plasma control capabilities required for commercial fusion reactors.
Every Fusion Startup That Has Raised Over $100M
Fusion startups have raised $7.1 billion to date, with Commonwealth Fusion Systems leading at nearly $3 billion following its $863 million Series B2 in August 2025. The year-end roundup captures major developments including TAE Technologies' $6 billion merger with Trump Media & Technology Group, Helion's $425 million raise as it turned on its Polaris prototype, and Pacific Fusion's $900 million Series A for pulsed magnetic fusion. General Fusion faced a turbulent year, laying off 25% of staff before securing emergency funding, while First Light Fusion pivoted away from building its own power plant to licensing its core technologies. The funding landscape spans every major fusion approach from tokamaks to stellarators to inertial confinement, with investors increasingly willing to underwrite early-era fusion electricity through corporate offtakes like Google's agreement to purchase half of CFS's Arc output.
Nuclear Fusion Could Transform Middle East Energy Security
Distributed compact fusion systems could power secure, localized energy hubs throughout the Middle East, reducing large-scale outage risks while avoiding the proliferation concerns that complicate traditional nuclear fission in the region. Fusion technology, expected to become commercially viable by the mid-2030s, offers a path toward cooperation in a region often defined by conflict, potentially building on frameworks established by the Abraham Accords. The article argues that Europe, the UK, and the United States have established specific consortiums to accelerate fusion development, and the Middle East should channel its substantial scientific capacity toward similar regional initiatives to address long-term energy security needs while bypassing the geopolitical complications surrounding fission technology.
SHINE Completes Acquisition of Lantheus SPECT Business, Names Michael Rossi SHINE SPECT CEO
SHINE Technologies has completed its acquisition of Lantheus Holdings' SPECT business, adding the North Billerica, Massachusetts manufacturing facility and a portfolio of diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals including TechneLite, Cardiolite, and NEUROLITE to its nuclear medicine platform. The deal brings immediate revenue and operational scale in the $19 billion nuclear medicine market, with the acquired facility having manufactured Technetium Tc 99m generators for 55 years. The acquisition creates vertical integration with SHINE's Chrysalis facility under development in Janesville, Wisconsin, which will use fusion-based technology to produce molybdenum-99, the parent isotope for Tc-99m diagnostic imaging. Michael Rossi, former President and CEO of Y-mAbs Therapeutics, joins as CEO of SHINE SPECT USA, LLC.
10 Prognostications for Fusion in 2026
As 2025 wraps up, The Fusion Report looks ahead with 10 predictions for fusion energy in 2026. Expect more companies going public, consolidation among fusion machine developers, hyperscalers buying fusion power for AI data centers, and China tripling down on its fusion ambitions. The pace and race for fusion will only accelerate.
