FIA Urges Fusion Prioritization in US FY26 Budget Request

The United States is at an inflection point in its pursuit of commercial fusion energy. To meet the goal of deploying fusion power within the next decade, the current federal funding levels and priorities are insufficient. While the U.S. has been a leader in fusion research, countries like China are dramatically increasing their efforts, putting the U.S. at risk of losing the opportunity and ceding tech and commercial leadership. On December 9, the FIA sent a letter to U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Granholm urging a strong federal budget request for fiscal year 2026.

In order to achieve the aims of deploying commercial fusion within the decadal period, the FIA makes the following recommendations as the Department of Energy develops a budget request for fiscal year 2026:

1. Fund the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences at the amount authorized by the bipartisan CHIPS & Science Act for 2025: a topline of $1.048 billion
2. Fully fund the FIRE Collaborative programs, which are critical for informing and de-risking the pathway to commercial fusion power, at $180 million.
3. Fully fund the Milestone-based Fusion Development Program at $280 million. The program is authorized at $370 million through FY26; however, only $90 million has been appropriated to date.
4. Fully fund the Alternative & Enabling Concepts program, providing $50 million overall, with at least $10 million specifically for INFUSE. This level of funding will support innovative fusion technologies while also providing fusion companies access to the world class expertise and capabilities available across the National Labs and universities.
5. Fund the Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) program to support the development of the scientific foundations and technologies for IFE, including the IFE Science & Technology Accelerated Research (IFE-STAR) innovation hubs at $40 million.
6. Additional funding of critical enabling research in the areas of Fusion Materials and Internal Components and Closing the Fusion Fuel Cycle, which are critical science and
   technology gaps that remain underfunded by the DOE.
7. Additional funding of the new Private Facilities Research program to support publicly funded researchers to conduct open studies on cutting edge privately constructed facilities in order to advance fusion and plasma science and technology.
8. Continue and expand the application of high performance computing and artificial intelligence/machine learning technologies to applications relevant to the fusion community (i.e. materials development, fuel systems and processing, etc).

Separate from the budget request, in order to accelerate the DOE fusion program to achieve the decadal goal of commercial deployment and maintain U.S. leadership with other competitors, the FIA supports a one-time supplemental appropriation of at least $5 billion to accelerate the US fusion program and keep pace with the rapid progress other nations are making in their fusion programs:

1. Construct critical research facilities, infrastructure and test stands necessary to close scientific gaps and enable fusion’s commercialization and scaling;
2. Support priority research areas at National Labs and universities, in close collaboration with the fusion industry, through the FIRE Collaboratives; and
3. Fully fund the Milestone program to provide the federal cost-share and support the deployment of the first fusion pilot plants.

The U.S. will not achieve its goals of deploying commercial fusion within a decade through the status quo funding levels and current prioritization of those funds. New resources and further realignment in the direction and prioritization of spending will keep the U.S. in the lead and mitigate the risks of falling behind other countries.

The FIA looks forward to working with the transition teams, the incoming Administration, fusion champions in Congress, and other supporters to accelerate the commercialization and deployment of fusion energy.