DOE has launched an Office of Fusion. Here’s how it can help the industry scale.
Last month, the Department of Energy announced the return of a standalone Office of Fusion, signaling that the United States sees fusion energy commercialization as a core national energy priority. With rapid scientific and engineering progress, over $7 billion invested in U.S. fusion energy startups, increased need for clean, firm power, and the first fusion power plants now entering construction, it’s clear that the U.S. fusion program has outgrown its current home within the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (FES), a sub-office within the Office of Science.
If sufficiently resourced and authorized by Congress, this new Office of Fusion will represent a critical step toward a public fusion program that matches the needs of today’s fusion industry, is able to bridge remaining gaps to commercialization, and ensures the U.S. fusion energy sector remains competitive on a global stage.
In this blog, we examine how the Office of Fusion can accelerate putting commercial fusion power on the grid by building the infrastructure to overcome critical remaining science and technology gaps, as well as funding public-private partnerships needed to enable U.S. fusion companies to compete on a level playing field with international competitors.
Why a standalone fusion office matters
As private fusion companies mature, the public fusion program’s mission must evolve to meet new industry needs. Under the current structure within FES at DOE’s Office of Science, constrained budgets have left the public program under-resourced. As a result, the U.S. has fallen behind international competitors in closing critical common science and technology gaps across approaches, according to a 2023 Government Accountability Office report, and key public-private partnerships remain consistently underfunded.
The creation of a standalone Office of Fusion presents an opportunity to refocus the U.S. fusion program towards mission-oriented research, while maximizing public resources to accelerate private sector advancements—a priority highlighted in CATF’s Fusion on the Grid report.
How the Office of Fusion can close gaps to help the industry scale
Achieving the ambitious goals laid out in the recently released Fusion Science and Technology Roadmap, which CATF sees as outlining a clear, scientifically grounded pathway towards closing critical science and technology gaps for commercializing fusion energy, will require both increased funding and a strategic reimagining of priorities for the new Office of Fusion. A key focus should be building the critical infrastructure to close remaining science and technology gaps necessary for commercialization. Near-term investments should include small to medium test stands that can make progress in addressing key challenges, including materials, plasma-facing components, confinement, blanket, fuel cycle, and systems integration gaps. Long-term priorities should include larger facilities, such as those identified in the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee’s “Best Serving Fusion” report, to more fundamentally de-risk those remaining gaps.
The direct incorporation of private sector machines and capabilities into the roadmap is a positive step, ensuring public programs and the private sector work in concert rather than duplicating efforts. Programs like the FIRE collaboratives, which coordinate government facilities, academia, and industry to tackle these technical challenges, will also require significant funding increases to make meaningful progress. Moreover, the Department of Energy announced the launch of the Genesis program, which will invest in AI-driven innovation in key scientific fields including fusion. That effort will only succeed if necessary facilities exist to generate the high-quality materials, plasma, and systems data needed to train high-fidelity models.
In parallel, the Office of Fusion must also be resourced to sufficiently fund public-private partnerships that strengthen U.S. fusion energy competitiveness. In particular, the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program should be fully funded at its authorized level of $415 million through FY 2027, rather than the total of $98 million appropriated since the launch of the program since its launch in 2022. As companies move toward their first commercial pilot plants, these competitively awarded, technologically diverse cost-share awards must substantially increase— even beyond authorized levels — to ensure U.S. fusion developers can compete on equal footing with China’s state-directed fusion program, which has outspent U.S. fusion efforts nearly threefold over the past three years.
The Office of Fusion’s role in building a commercial fusion energy future
Commercial deployment of fusion energy in the United States would provide clean, firm, and abundant power to meet rising energy demand, support climate goals, and provide the reliable energy backbone needed for 21st-century technological advances, from AI to other emerging innovations. Securing this future—and maintaining U.S. leadership in fusion—requires a fully resourced, standalone Office of Fusion. By focusing on closing shared science and technology gaps, expanding public-private partnerships to attract private capital, and allowing U.S. fusion companies to compete on a level playing field with international competitors, the Office of Fusion can position the United States to be the first nation to put fusion power plants on the grid. Achieving this vision will require coordinated action among DOE, the administration, and Congress, working together to chart a clear path toward a commercial fusion energy future.
