3 Laser Fusion Research Hubs Picked by Energy Department
With $42 million, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Colorado State University and the University of Rochester will work on studies to tap into a bountiful energy source.
With $42 million, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Colorado State University and the University of Rochester will work on studies to tap into a bountiful energy source.
The United States will work with other governments to speed up efforts to make nuclear fusion a new source of carbon-free energy, U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry said Tuesday, the latest of many U.S. announcements the last week aimed at combatting climate change.
The US announced “International Partnerships in a New Era of Fusion Energy Development”, issuing five goals for international partnership and collaboration opportunities on the way to fusion commercialization.
75 US-based companies and universities sent a letter to the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, urging an increase in fusion energy funding. The community requests that fusion is funding at the level requested by the President’s budget request, at the full level authorized in the CHIPS and Science Act. The whole community agrees that the Committee should “fund and prioritize” fusion energy
A bipartisan letter signed by 72 Members of Congress, requesting increased funding into the commercialization of fusion energy, was sent to the House Appropriations Committee on October 31.
On Tuesday, July 25, the U.S. Department of Energy announced $4.6m for FY2023 INFUSE awards, further driving public-private partnerships between national labs & universities and industry to drive efforts towards fusion commercialization.
On July 12, 2023, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) held a public meeting to update progress on developing a regulatory framework for fusion energy. As the first meeting following the April NRC decision that separated fusion from fission regulations in the United States, it kicks off the progress that will be made as a result of the vote.
On June 30, Senator Maria Cantwell, Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, sent a letter to Secretary Gina Raimondo, US Department of Commerce, on the importance of power semiconductors being included in the CHIPS for America Fund, based on the need for the growing fusion industry.
On June 13, alongside representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy, Helion Energy, US ITER Project Office, and General Atomics, FIA CEO Andrew Holland testified at a Congressional hearing on “From Theory to Reality: The Limitless Potential of Fusion Energy“, hosted by the Energy Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. A main theme from the hearing: the general consensus to increase support for accelerated fusion commercialization, a feat that will unlock “limitless potential” for energy, climate, and economic benefits.
In a notice released on May 31, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provided further technical guidance on the application process for the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit (Section 48C of the Internal Revenue Code). The first round of the expanded 48C tax credit program will strengthen the supply chains for fusion-related technologies to address remaining challenges for fusion commercialization, such as the manufacturing of superconducting magnets, plasma-facing components, and diagnostics.