Things You Gotta Know
Commonwealth Fusion Systems Orders More Than 10,000 Kilometers of HTS Tape From Fujikura for ARC Power Plants
Commonwealth Fusion Systems agreed to purchase more than 10,000 kilometers of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tape from Japan’s Fujikura Ltd., an order CFS calls the largest of its kind for HTS tape. The tape will go into ARC power plants, starting with the first grid-scale plant at the Fall Line Fusion Power Station in Chesterfield County, Virginia.
DIII-D Team Wins the APS John Dawson Award for Advancing Negative Triangularity Toward Commercial Fusion
A multi-institutional team at the U.S. Department of Energy’s DIII-D National Fusion Facility in San Diego won the American Physical Society’s John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research for its work on negative triangularity, a reverse D-shaped plasma that pairs high confinement with strong stability. A dedicated campaign that began in 2022 produced high-performance plasmas for weeks without a single edge-localized mode (ELM), the bursts of heat and particles that can damage a device. DIII-D will next install an NT-optimized divertor through a public-private partnership with Kyoto Fusioneering.
ENN Reports Hydrogen-Boron Fusion Reactions on Its EXL-50U Spherical Torus
China’s ENN Group said it achieved hydrogen-boron fusion reactions on its EXL-50U spherical torus, which it calls the first time a commercial fusion company has done so on its own device. The team reported a reaction rate above 100 million reactions per second by combining high-energy neutral beam injection with radiofrequency waves. ENN is now building its next-generation Helong-2 device, expected to be completed in late 2027, with a goal of lighting the first lamp with hydrogen-boron fusion by 2030.
Japan’s Helical Fusion Plans Preliminary Power-On Tests of Its Helix HARUKA Demonstration Reactor in 2027
Helical Fusion said it expects to begin preliminary power-on tests in 2027 at Helix HARUKA, its demonstration reactor under construction at the National Institute for Fusion Science site in Toki. The company then plans to add a second coil and other major components, including a liquid-metal wall blanket, before testing the completed integrated facility around 2030, ahead of Helix Kanata, a larger reactor designed for 50 MW of net power.
Governor Newsom Signs SB 925, Directing a California Strategic Plan for Fusion Energy Development
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 925, authored by Senator Jerry McNerney, which requires the state to create a strategic plan for fusion energy development, including a commercial fusion strategy and support for in-state fusion manufacturing. The plan builds on California assets such as the DIII-D National Fusion Facility in San Diego and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility. Newsom also signed AB 2647, which directs an assessment of new nuclear power plants to help meet the state’s goal of 100 percent zero-carbon electricity by 2045.
Italy’s Senate Gives Final Approval to a Framework for Nuclear Fission and Fusion Energy
Italy’s Senate gave final approval, 81 to 51 with seven abstentions, to legislation directing the government to develop regulatory frameworks and a national program for nuclear fission and fusion energy, along with research and investment incentives. The government now has twelve months to issue the implementing decrees.
A Deep Dive into Helion Energy’s Progress Towards Commercial Fusion Energy
The Fusion Report interviewed Helion Energy founder and CEO Dr. David Kirtley about the company’s progress toward commercial fusion energy. Kirtley said commissioning and a ramp-up to full power were built into Helion’s agreements with Microsoft for its Orion plant, which call for at least 50 MW after the initial ramp-up, and discussed Helion’s path from D-D and D-T fusion on Polaris to deuterium-helium-3 testing. Helion has raised $1.5 billion to date, including a Series G that closed oversubscribed at $500 million in September at a $15.5 billion post-money valuation.
Commercial Fusion Energy Power Conversion and Fuel Management Systems
The Fusion Report’s series on supporting technologies for commercial fusion continues with power conversion and fuel management systems. In D-T fusion, the 14.1 MeV neutron carries roughly 80% of the energy into a thermal blanket that drives a conventional turbine, while aneutronic approaches such as D-He3 and p-B11 can also use direct energy conversion, which has been demonstrated but is not yet production-ready. On the fuel side, MFE and hybrid D-T plants must recycle unburned fuel and breed tritium from lithium blankets, while IFE machines must inject frozen fuel pellets at rates of up to 10 Hertz.
