Igniting America's Energy Future: The Promise and Progress of Fusion Power

Energy

2025-09-18

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Source: Congress.gov

Summary

The Subcommittee on Energy convened to discuss the promise and progress of fusion power, highlighting its potential to revolutionize the energy sector and ensure U.S. leadership in a critical technological race[ 00:18:19-00:18:20 ] . The discussion emphasized the need for continued investment, strategic partnerships, and workforce development to overcome current challenges and realize fusion's benefits for energy security and economic prosperity[ 00:20:32-00:20:44 ]

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Themes

The Promise of Fusion Power

Fusion energy is hailed as a dense, virtually limitless, carbon-neutral, and sustainable power source derived from hydrogen, with the potential to radically transform humanity. It offers abundant power for industry, AI, and various applications like hydrogen production, water desalination, and district heating[ 00:20:18 ]

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[ 00:26:39 ]

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. Fusion is considered compact, requiring minimal land and materials, and inherently safe, as it stops when not driven and produces no high-level waste. Recent breakthroughs at facilities like the National Ignition Facility (NIF) have demonstrated positive net energy output and burning plasma, changing the perception of fusion from a distant dream to a rapidly advancing reality.

Maintaining U.S. Leadership Amidst Chinese Competition

A central concern is the U.S.'s diminishing lead in fusion energy compared to China, which is investing aggressively and rapidly developing its capabilities. China has invested upwards of $10-13 billion in fusion since 2023, including state-owned champions, and is rapidly constructing major research facilities, aiming for fusion power by 2031. Speakers emphasized that the nation that first commercializes fusion will likely set global standards and supply chains for decades to come, underscoring the high stakes of this technological race. To win, the U.S. needs to scale its supply chain, make continued regulatory progress, and build fusion power plants before China, potentially with shovels in the ground as early as 2028.

The Need for Workforce Development and Supply Chain Strengthening

The expanding fusion industry faces significant workforce challenges, including personnel shortages, retention issues, and education/training gaps[ 00:20:32 ]

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. While engineers and scientists are crucial, a robust skilled trades workforce, accounting for a significant portion of the industry, is equally vital[ 00:20:44 ]

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[ 00:20:53 ]

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. Proposed solutions include expanding apprenticeship programs, involving community colleges, and implementing legislation like the Fusion Workforce Act. There is also a critical need to proactively scale the domestic supply chain, with initiatives like the Fusion Advanced Manufacturing Parity Act being introduced to support this effort.

Crucial Role of Federal Investment and Public-Private Partnerships

Federal investment has historically driven fusion research breakthroughs in the U.S., leading to the emergence of many private fusion companies. Initiatives like public-private partnerships, milestone-based development programs, and funding for early fusion projects through ARPA-E are seen as responsible uses of taxpayer dollars that leverage DOE's expertise and attract private investment. A significant one-time federal investment of around $10 billion is proposed to fund commercialization programs, build pilot power plants, and support commercially relevant R&D at national labs and universities, ensuring the U.S. can compete effectively.

Addressing Technical Challenges and Infrastructure Gaps

Despite significant progress, critical basic science questions remain before operational fusion power plants can connect to the grid. These include ensuring the stability of burning plasma, developing materials that can withstand harsh neutron environments, and optimizing reactor system designs. New facilities are essential to close these gaps, such as a fusion prototypic neutron source, a materials plasma exposure experiment, and blanket and fuel cycle facilities. Without these investments, the U.S. risks falling behind scientifically and economically.

Balancing Collaboration and Intellectual Property

The fusion industry is inherently global, and collaboration with allies like Europe, Japan, and the UK is vital to accelerate progress and avoid duplicating efforts, particularly in areas like modeling tools and heating technologies. However, concerns exist regarding intellectual property protection, especially in the context of competition with China[ 01:14:22 ]

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. While the fundamentals of plasma physics are universal and should be shared in peer-reviewed literature, the specific details of facility design, manufacturing, and assembly are where commercial interest lies and collaboration is more restricted.

Tone of the Meeting

The tone of the meeting was largely urgent and concerned regarding the U.S.'s competitive standing against China, with speakers emphasizing the high stakes of the "race" to commercialize fusion. Despite this, there was a strong sense of optimism and hope about fusion's transformative potential and recent scientific advancements, coupled with a determined resolve to secure U.S. leadership[ 01:30:29 ]

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. The discussions highlighted a bipartisan commitment to supporting fusion energy and a collaborative spirit among academia, national labs, and private industry, although with clear calls for more decisive federal action and investment.

Participants

Transcript

The Subcommittee on Energy will come to order.  Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare recesses of the subcommittee at any time.  Welcome to today's hearing entitled, Igniting America's Energy Future, The Promise and Progress of Fusion Power.  I recognize myself for five minutes for an opening statement.   Well, good morning, y'all.  We've already had a chance to say good morning.  We're glad y'all are here.  Welcome to today's Energy Subcommittee hearing titled Igniting America's Energy Future, the Promise and Progress of Fusion Power.   After a decade of stagnation, most of y'all, I think the little young lady here was probably still in high school back then.  After a decade of stagnation, U.S.  energy demand is once again on the rise.  This surge is driven by several factors, including the onshoring of supply chains crucial to our national security and the rapid growth of commercial artificial intelligence technologies across the country.   At our last subcommittee hearing, witnesses discussed nuclear energy's potential role in powering AI data centers.  That conversation led us to focus on nuclear fission, which is commercially viable today.  This hearing will spotlight nuclear fission, a fusion, a field that after decades of promise has made remarkable progress across various technology readiness levels in recent years.   These advancements have highlighted a growing need for workforce development.  The challenge is not simply producing more PhDs, but building a robust, skilled trades workforce.  According to the Fusion Industry Association, only 23% of employees in the sector are scientists and 44% are engineers, leaving a significant portion of the workforce without advanced degrees.
The industry is expanding rapidly, growing by a staggering 50% in the last two years, while the supply chain has tripled in size in that same two years.  Many fusion companies project operational pilot plants by 2035, with workforce needs expected to increase six-fold at this stage, not including additional supply chain demand.   To address these needs, our national labs are considering apprenticeship programs to help prevent potential worker shortages.  Such programs would complement the cutting-edge research conducted at DOE facilities, which house much of the specialized equipment necessary for fusion science.   Due to these unique capabilities, DOE's collaboration with the private sector is very vital for advancing commercialization.  To foster these partnerships, DOE has launched several initiatives to connect, support, and indeed accelerate industry growth.  These include a public-private partnership program, a milestone-based fusion development program, and ongoing funding for fusion projects through the ARPA-E office.   Public-private partnerships leverage DOE's expertise while encouraging private sector investment.  Milestone programs tie federal funding to demonstrate a progress, and ARPA-E's early fusion projects have already generated over $700 million in private investment.  These efforts are prime examples of responsible use of taxpayers' dollars.   For decades, fusion energy was seen as a dream, always 20 or 30 years away.   Recent successes at the National Ignition Facility, or NIF, have begun to change that perception.  NIF became the first facility in the world to achieve a positive net energy output from a fusion reaction, as well as the first to achieve burning plasma.
It's important to note that critical basic science questions still exist before we can see operational fusion power plants connected to the grid.   Fortunately, academia, along with DOE user facilities, is working closely with the private sector to both identify and solve these remaining challenges.  Continued federal investment is essential to ensuring these foundational science gaps are addressed in a very coordinated manner.   The progress we've seen is undeniable, and the fusion industry is steadily advancing toward delivering fusion power to the grid.  It can't get here quick enough, can it?  I want to thank our witnesses for their testimony, and I look forward to today's discussion on how the federal government can support academia, the national labs, and private companies to ensure America leads in this critical race.  I yield back the balance of my time, recognize the ranking member.
Well, thank you very much, Chairman Weber, for convening today's important hearing on the current landscape of fusion energy, where we stand, what remains to be done, and how the federal government can play a pivotal role in ensuring U.S.  leadership in a technology that could well revolutionize our entire energy sector.  I also want to thank our very impressive panel of witnesses for being here this morning.   The U.S.  is at a critical moment in the effort to develop fusion as a carbon neutral, sustainable source of energy.   Breakthroughs in plasma physics, technology, public-private partnerships, and private sector innovation are giving us reasons to believe that fusion can become a game changer for clean power, climate resilience, energy security, and economic opportunity.   In my home district, North Carolina State University has just launched a new remote control room under its Future Fusion Research Initiative.   In July, the Fusion Plasma Auxiliaries Characterization Lab at NC State successfully conducted their experiment remotely at the D3D Fusion Facility in San Diego.   This marks a significant step toward enabling greater student and institutional access to national and international fusion research facilities.  It demonstrates how federal investment in infrastructure prepares students for the high skilled jobs of tomorrow, fosters innovation and partnerships, and positions the U.S.  to lead globally.   Universities like NC State, our national laboratories, and private innovators depend on steady investments.

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