Fusion Energy Realizes Century's American Dominance

Key Chapter Title List

1. About This Committee
2. About the Preliminary Report
3. Executive Summary
4. Fusion Energy: Laying the Foundation for American Leadership in the 21st Century
5. The Global Fusion Race
6. Achieving Fusion Energy
7. Appendix: Introduction to Fusion Basics

Document Introduction

This report was co-authored by the co-chairs and members of the U.S. "Expanding Fusion Energy Committee" and released in February 2025. The core issue of the report is how the United States can take urgent and coordinated national action to maintain and consolidate its energy and technological leadership in the 21st century, in the face of rapid development in the field of fusion energy by global competitors led by China. The report elevates the commercialization of nuclear fusion energy to a strategic height of national security, arguing that it is not only about energy independence and economic growth but also a key determinant of the future geopolitical landscape, artificial intelligence (AI) development, defense capabilities, and the setting of global technological standards.

The report first outlines the strategic value of fusion energy, pointing out that as a dispatchable, carbon-free baseload energy source, it has the potential to fundamentally transform the global energy landscape. Through a comparative analysis of the fusion development trends in the United States and China, the report reveals potential risks and shortcomings in the U.S. transition from experimental science to commercialization, including in strategy, supply chains, infrastructure, and public-private funding. Although the United States maintains a lead in private investment, scientific breakthroughs (such as the ignition experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), and the startup ecosystem, China is rapidly catching up and may achieve overtaking through large-scale state investment, infrastructure construction (such as the CRAFT campus and the CFETR project), and control over key material (such as tungsten) supply chains.

To address this challenge, the report proposes a clear "National Fusion Goal": to initiate the construction of the world's first commercial fusion power plant within this decade. To achieve this goal, the report constructs an action framework consisting of three pillars. First, formally declare fusion energy a national security priority, establish the national goal through a presidential executive order, and develop a 90-day action plan. Second, establish a "Fusion Lead" within the U.S. Department of Energy with budgetary and personnel authority, responsible for coordinating supply chain security (including mapping, incentives, and cybersecurity), optimizing public-private partnerships, and clearing regulatory hurdles (involving Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing, environmental fast-track review, and grid interconnection). Third, make a strategic one-time investment of $10 billion to support key R&D facilities, commercialization projects, and pilot plant demonstrations, while continuing to invest in basic science and talent development.

The report's analysis is based on committee working group meetings, expert briefings, and extensive consultations with government agencies (such as the Department of Energy, National Laboratories), private enterprises, and academia. Its conclusion emphasizes that the United States must take decisive action immediately to translate its scientific advantage into commercial and geopolitical advantage, or risk losing its leading position in a key technology that will determine the balance of power in the coming century.