FIA Participates in White House Summit: Marking Two Years of the Bold Decadal Vision for Commercial Fusion
On June 6, the Fusion Industry Association (FIA) joined the White House and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the White House Summit: Marking Two Years of the Bold Decadal Vision for Commercial Fusion to provide updates on the path to commercialization and discuss remaining challenges and strategies for greater collaboration between public and private sectors.
At the event, the U.S. Department of Energy launched the Fusion Energy Strategy 2024 to accelerate commercial fusion development in the United States. The strategy is based on three key pillars: 1. Close the S&T gaps to a commercially relevant fusion pilot plant; 2. Prepare the path to sustainable, equitable commercial fusion deployment; and 3. Build and leverage external partnerships. The DOE also launched the Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) program vision: Building Bridges. These aligned documents will guide future DOE investments in fusion energy research, development, and demonstration. Within the Building Bridges vision, FES will develop a national fusion S&T roadmap to address the “how” and “when” of closing critical S&T gaps to commercially relevant fusion pilot plants.
Furthermore, the DOE made other important announcements, including:
- A $180 million funding opportunity for the Fusion Innovative Research Engine (FIRE) Collaboratives to bolster U.S. manufacturing and fusion technology development
- Confirmation that all awardees of the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program have successful signed their contracts and entered their partnerships
- A Request For Information (RFI) for a new Public-Private Consortium Framework (PPCF) to boost public and private sector collaboration to drive commercial fusion efforts
You can watch a recording of the White House event below. The session included high level remarks and panel discussions on upcoming milestones, the path to commercialization, and science & technology progress and challenges.
The FIA applauds the tremendous work done by the White House and U.S. Department of Energy to further accelerate fusion commercialization.
June 6th, 2024
