The Fusion Industry Association Welcomes the Biden Administration Infrastructure Plan
March 31, 2021 – The Fusion Industry Association (FIA) welcomes the announcement of the American Jobs Plan by President Biden to rebuild and support America’s infrastructure. The American Jobs Plan is the administration’s ambitious push to rebuild the country’s infrastructure while also investing in its future and helping to combat climate change.
As a whole, this plan outlines about $2 trillion in spending over eight years, with $180 billion directed towards investment in R&D and the technologies of the future. Investment in fusion energy is an investment in the future of a new American industry; when commercialized, fusion will help solve the climate crisis.
Private fusion companies have plans to build proof-of-concept machines, capable of breakeven carbon-free fusion power, within this decade. If they can then scale to commercial power in the 2030s, the Biden Administration’s ambitious climate targets become baselines, not stretches. However, America’s global competitors are also racing to fusion power, which underscores the importance that the U.S. win the race to carbon-free commercial fusion power.
This infrastructure plan aims to rebuild American competitiveness. If we want to re-establish American scientific leadership and meet the challenge of climate change, nothing would capture the imagination more than an initiative to rapidly accelerate fusion energy research and development. The scientific basis to achieve breakthrough advances in fusion power are within our grasp: the time for investment is now.
The FIA believes a $1 billion Milestone-Based Fusion Energy Development Program within the upcoming infrastructure legislation would support the effort to build a new US-based fusion power industry. This new public-private partnership would be an appropriate stimulus for four reasons: (1) it is time limited, so it doesn’t create an ongoing government commitment; (2) it is leveraged, so that government dollars bring private dollars in; (3) it is shovel-ready, with private companies already funded and ready to build, and (4) it will increase the security, competitiveness, and stability of US power generation over the long term.
A fuller justification and outline of the FIA infrastructure plan, including a summary of the proposed milestone-based public-private partnership program is embedded below.
The Fusion Industry Association is an association of 24 member companies working to commercialize fusion power on a timescale that matters for the climate crisis. Its membership consists of companies striving to build commercial fusion power plants, while its affiliate members are organizations that will build the broader fusion energy economy.
