Skip to content
FusionBenchmark

Fusion

This is the vocabulary term. For an overview of the sector, see Fusion.

Umbrella term used only where a record’s specific confinement approach is not established by evidence. A narrower term is always preferred when the sources support one.

In the record: 50 companies, 14 laboratories and programmes, 146 devices and 0 reactor designs. These counts include Magnetic confinement, Inertial confinement, Magneto-inertial, Electrostatic confinement, Beam-target and Muon-catalysed fusion.

Not yet in the record for this approach: reactor designs.

Related approaches

Narrower:

  • Magnetic confinement Holding a hot plasma away from material walls using magnetic fields, sustained for seconds to steady-state rather than the nanosecond pulses of inertial confinement. The open problem shared by every configuration below is exhausting the plasma's heat and helium ash without eroding the wall that must survive it for years, not seconds.
  • Inertial confinement Compressing fuel so fast that its own inertia holds it together long enough to burn: nanoseconds, not seconds. Every ICF approach shares the same open problem beyond ignition itself: repeating a shot several times a second at low enough cost per shot to run a power plant, which no driver has yet demonstrated.
  • Magneto-inertial Compression of a magnetised plasma; sits between MCF and ICF in density and timescale.
  • Electrostatic confinement Confinement by electric rather than magnetic fields.
  • Beam-target A beam of fast ions fired into a fuel target that is not itself a hot plasma, such as a gas cell or a solid loaded with deuterium or tritium. As each beam ion ploughs through the target it loses its energy to the target's electrons far faster than it is likely to fuse, so only a tiny fraction of the ions fuse before they stop. The fusion energy returned is a small fraction of the energy spent accelerating the beam, so the approach cannot reach net energy gain however the beam or target is arranged. It is commercially useful anyway, as a compact and reliable source of neutrons for imaging and medical isotope production.
  • Muon-catalysed fusion A negative muon temporarily replaces an electron in a D-T (or D-D) molecule, pulling the nuclei roughly 200 times closer together than an electron would, so fusion happens at room temperature without confining a hot plasma at all. Added as its own branch of the fusion tree rather than filed under magnetic or inertial confinement, because it confines nothing: the muon does the work electromagnetically at the molecular scale. No net-energy device has been built: a muon typically catalyses only 100-150 fusions before it is captured by a helium nucleus and lost, and the main open problem is extending that cycle count, or cutting the cost of producing muons, enough to get more energy out than went into making them.

Companies 50

Includes companies recorded under a narrower approach, named beside each.

Laboratories and programmes 14

Devices 146

Operating devices first, then those being built or planned, then those shut down, suspended or cancelled.

  • ADITYA-U Operating Institute for Plasma Research · IN · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • ALVAND Operating Atomic Energy Organization of Iran · IR · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • ASDEX UPGRADE Operating Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics · DE · Tokamak · 9 measurements
  • CTH Operating Auburn University · US · Stellarator · 4 measurements
  • DAMAVAND Operating Atomic Energy Organization of Iran · IR · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • DIII-D Operating General Atomics · US · Tokamak · 9 measurements
  • EGYPTOR Operating Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority · EG · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • ETE Operating National Institute for Space Research · BR · Spherical tokamak · 5 measurements
  • EXL-50U Operating ENN Science and Technology Development · CN · Spherical tokamak
  • Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak Operating Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences · CN · Tokamak · 11 measurements
  • EXTRAP T2R Operating KTH Royal Institute of Technology · SE · Reversed-field pinch
  • FAT-CM Operating Nihon University · JP · Field-reversed configuration
  • FIRST LIGHT Operating First Light Fusion · GB · Projectile-driven
  • FOCUS FUSION Operating LPP Fusion · US
  • FT-2 Operating Ioffe Institute · RU · Tokamak · 4 measurements
  • FUZE-Q Operating Zap Energy · US · Z-pinch
  • GAMMA 10/PDX Operating University of Tsukuba · JP · Magnetic mirror
  • GDT Operating Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics · RU · Magnetic mirror
  • GEKKO XII Operating Osaka University · JP · Inertial confinement
  • GLAST-III Operating Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission · PK · Spherical tokamak · 5 measurements
  • GLOBUS-M2 Operating Ioffe Institute · RU · Spherical tokamak · 7 measurements
  • GOL-NB Operating Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics · RU · Magnetic mirror
  • GOLEM Operating Czech Technical University · CZ · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • GUTTA Operating Saint Petersburg State University · RU · Spherical tokamak · 4 measurements
  • HBT-EP Operating Columbia University · US · Tokamak · 4 measurements
  • HELIOTRON J Operating Kyoto University · JP · Stellarator · 3 measurements
  • HH70 Operating Energy Singularity · CN · Tokamak
  • HIDRA Operating University of Illinois · US · Stellarator · 3 measurements
  • HIST Operating University of Hyogo · JP · Spherical tokamak · 4 measurements
  • HL-2A Operating Southwestern Institute of Physics · CN · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • HL-2M Operating Southwestern Institute of Physics · CN · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • HSX Operating University of Wisconsin-Madison · US · Stellarator · 3 measurements
  • HYBTOK-II Operating Nagoya University · JP · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • IR-T1 Operating Islamic Azad University · IR · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • ISTTOK Operating Instituto Superior Técnico · PT · Tokamak · 4 measurements
  • J-TEXT Operating Huazhong University of Science and Technology · CN · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • KSTAR Operating Korea Institute of Fusion Energy · KR · Tokamak · 11 measurements
  • KTM Operating Institute of Atomic Energy of National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan · KZ · Spherical tokamak · 5 measurements
  • KTX Operating University of Science and Technology of China · CN · Reversed-field pinch · 3 measurements
  • LATE Operating Kyoto University · JP · Spherical tokamak
  • LFEX Operating Osaka University · JP · Inertial confinement
  • LIBTOR Operating Tajoura Nuclear Research Centre · LY · Tokamak · 4 measurements
  • LMJ Operating CEA · FR · Inertial confinement
  • LTX-β Operating Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory · US · Tokamak
  • MAST-U Operating UK Atomic Energy Authority · GB · Spherical tokamak · 5 measurements
  • MEDUSA-CR Operating Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica · CR · Spherical tokamak · 5 measurements
  • MST Operating University of Wisconsin-Madison · US · Reversed-field pinch
  • MT-1 Operating Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission · PK · Spherical tokamak · 5 measurements
  • National Ignition Facility Operating Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory · US · Laser ICF, indirect drive · 31 measurements
  • Norm Operating TAE Technologies · US · Field-reversed configuration
  • NORMAN Operating TAE Technologies · US · Field-reversed configuration
  • NORTH Operating Technical University of Denmark · DK · Spherical tokamak · 2 measurements
  • NOVA-FURG Operating Federal University of Espírito Santo · BR · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • OMEGA Operating University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics · US · Laser ICF, direct drive · 1 measurement
  • PEGASUS-III Operating University of Wisconsin-Madison · US · Spherical tokamak · 4 measurements
  • PHIX Operating Institute of Science Tokyo · JP · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • POLARIS Operating Helion Energy · US · Field-reversed configuration
  • QUEST Operating Kyushu University · JP · Spherical tokamak · 4 measurements
  • RELAX Operating Kyoto Institute of Technology · JP · Reversed-field pinch · 2 measurements
  • RT-1 Operating The University of Tokyo · JP · Levitated dipole
  • SCR-1 Operating Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica · CR · Stellarator · 4 measurements
  • SMART Operating University of Seville · ES · Spherical tokamak · 5 measurements
  • SMOLA Operating Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics · RU · Magnetic mirror
  • SST-1 Operating Institute for Plasma Research · IN · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • ST40 Operating Tokamak Energy · GB · Spherical tokamak · 13 measurements
  • STOR-M Operating University of Saskatchewan · CA · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • SUNIST-1 Operating Tsinghua University · CN · Spherical tokamak · 5 measurements
  • T-11M Operating Troitsk Institute for Innovation and Fusion Research · RU · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • T-15MD Operating National Research Centre Kurchatov Institute · RU · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • TCABR Operating University of São Paulo · BR · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • TCV Operating Swiss Plasma Center · CH · Tokamak · 4 measurements
  • TJ-II Operating CIEMAT · ES · Stellarator · 3 measurements
  • TJ-K Operating University of Stuttgart · DE · Stellarator · 3 measurements
  • TOKASTAR-2 Operating Nagoya University · JP · Tokamak · 4 measurements
  • TORIX Operating École Polytechnique · FR · Magnetic confinement · 3 measurements
  • TORPEX Operating Swiss Plasma Center · CH · Magnetic confinement · 3 measurements
  • TST-2 Operating The University of Tokyo · JP · Spherical tokamak · 5 measurements
  • TT-1 Operating Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology · TH · Tokamak · 4 measurements
  • TUMAN-3M Operating Ioffe Institute · RU · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • UH-CTI Operating Kyushu University · JP · Magnetic confinement
  • UH-MCPG1 Operating University of Hyogo · JP · Magnetic confinement
  • URAGAN-2M Operating Institute of Plasma Physics National Science Center · UA · Stellarator · 3 measurements
  • URAGAN-3M Operating Institute of Plasma Physics National Science Center · UA · Stellarator · 3 measurements
  • UTST Operating The University of Tokyo · JP · Spherical tokamak · 5 measurements
  • VEST Operating Seoul National University · KR · Spherical tokamak · 4 measurements
  • Wendelstein 7-X Operating Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics · DE · Stellarator · 9 measurements
  • WEST Operating CEA · FR · Tokamak · 6 measurements
  • Z Machine Operating Sandia National Laboratories · US · Z-pinch
  • ZEBRA Operating University of Nevada · US · Z-pinch
  • JT-60SA Commissioning National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology · JP · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • ATLAS (Marvel Fusion) Under construction Marvel Fusion · US · Inertial confinement
  • BEST Under construction Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences · CN · Tokamak
  • CAT Under construction Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics · RU · Magnetic mirror
  • CFQS Under construction Southwest Jiaotong University · CN · Stellarator · 3 measurements
  • COMPASS-U Under construction Institute of Plasma Physics · CZ · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • DTT Under construction ENEA · IT · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • HORNE HYBRID REACTOR Under construction Horne Technologies · US · Inertial electrostatic confinement
  • ITER Under construction ITER Organization · FR · Tokamak · 10 measurements
  • MT-2 Under construction Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission · PK · Spherical tokamak
  • NSTX-U Under construction Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory · US · Spherical tokamak · 5 measurements
  • PILOT GAMMA PDX-SC Under construction University of Tsukuba · JP · Magnetic mirror
  • RFX Under construction Consorzio RFX · IT · Reversed-field pinch · 3 measurements
  • SPARC Under construction Commonwealth Fusion Systems · US · Tokamak · 9 measurements
  • SSST Under construction Institute for Plasma Research · IN · Spherical tokamak · 4 measurements
  • Alpha (Proxima Fusion) Planned Proxima Fusion · DE · Stellarator
  • ARC Planned Commonwealth Fusion Systems · US · Tokamak · 1 measurement
  • CFETR Planned CN · Tokamak
  • Da Vinci Planned TAE Technologies · Field-reversed configuration
  • EU-DEMO Planned Tokamak · 1 measurement
  • FUSION POWER CORE Planned Compact Fusion Systems · US · Magnetized target
  • GDMT Planned Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics · RU · Magnetic mirror
  • GDMT CORE Planned Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics · RU · Magnetic mirror
  • HB11 Planned HB11 Energy · AU · Inertial confinement
  • HELICITY DRIVE Planned Helicity Space · US
  • Infinity One Planned Type One Energy · US · Stellarator
  • Infinity Two Planned Type One Energy · US · Stellarator · 2 measurements
  • INNOVEN ENERGY LLC Planned Innoven Energy · US · Inertial confinement
  • MIFTI Planned Magneto-Inertial Fusion Technologies, Inc. · US · Z-pinch
  • PFRC Planned Princeton Fusion Systems · US · Field-reversed configuration
  • PJMIF Planned Hyperjet Fusion Corporation · US · Magnetized target
  • PLATO Planned Kyushu University · JP · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • PST Planned Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission · PK · Spherical tokamak · 4 measurements
  • Stellaris Planned Proxima Fusion · DE · Stellarator
  • STEP Planned STEP · GB · Spherical tokamak
  • Alcator A Shut down MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center · Tokamak · 4 measurements
  • Alcator C Shut down MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center · Tokamak · 4 measurements
  • ASDEX Shut down Tokamak · 3 measurements
  • C-Mod Shut down Tokamak · 4 measurements
  • CFR Shut down Lockheed Martin · US · Magnetic mirror
  • EXL-50 Shut down ENN Science and Technology Development · CN · Spherical tokamak · 5 measurements
  • FTU Shut down ENEA · IT · Tokamak · 5 measurements
  • IDCD Shut down CTFusion · US · Magnetic confinement
  • JT-60U Shut down JAEA · JP · Tokamak · 11 measurements
  • Large Helical Device Shut down National Institute for Fusion Science · JP · Stellarator · 3 measurements
  • MAST Shut down Spherical tokamak · 4 measurements
  • NSTX Shut down Spherical tokamak · 4 measurements
  • PLT Shut down Tokamak · 4 measurements
  • ST Shut down Tokamak · 4 measurements
  • START Shut down Spherical tokamak · 3 measurements
  • T-3 Shut down Tokamak · 4 measurements
  • TFR Shut down Tokamak · 4 measurements
  • Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor Shut down Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory · US · Tokamak · 6 measurements
  • TRENTA Shut down Helion Energy · US · Field-reversed configuration · 1 measurement
  • Joint European Torus Decommissioned UK Atomic Energy Authority · GB · Tokamak · 14 measurements
  • COPERNICUS Cancelled TAE Technologies · US · Field-reversed configuration
  • FuZE Status not recorded Zap Energy · US · Z-pinch · 1 measurement

Measurements

97 devices using this approach carry 487 measurements: 415 claimed, 56 planned, 9 achieved, 4 disputed, 3 superseded. The values, each with its status and source, are on the benchmark and on each device's page. Most measured: National Ignition Facility (31), Joint European Torus (14), ST40 (13), Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (11), KSTAR (11).

Guides

Includes guides about the narrower approaches.

  • Find companies by reactor type How to list the companies working on one kind of fusion machine or fission reactor, using the companies directory, the technology pages and the device table.
  • How fusion works What nuclear fusion is, which fuels it can use, the temperature, density and confinement it needs, and why no machine has yet turned it into electricity.
  • Fusion approaches compared Every family of fusion machine, how each holds its fuel, the best result this dataset holds for it, its main unsolved problem and the organisations pursuing it.
  • Compare approaches and devices How to use the comparison pages to set two approaches side by side, and the device table and leaderboards to compare individual machines.
  • Fusion and fission compared How fusion and fission differ in the physics, the fuels, the neutrons, the waste, the safety case and how far each has come, set side by side with the numbers.
  • Commercial timeline of fusion power Six fusion power plants are on record, all still planned. The only dated electricity purchase is Helion's May 2023 deal to supply Microsoft from 2028.

Fusion in the glossary · Fusion overview · All approaches