Trackers · Fusion
Fusion energy companies and projects tracker
Who is building fusion power, and how close are they? This tracker lists the private companies and public programs pursuing fusion energy, one record per machine or plant, with approach, funding, site, status and sourced milestones.
New to fusion? Nuclear fusion, explained: three ways to bottle a star
51 projects · updated · last full review
Key numbers
- Tracked projects
- 5121 operating · 11 design · 8 under construction · 6 concept · 3 licensing · 1 shut down · 1 cancelled
- Private fusion funding, 12 months to July 2026
- $4.48bnA record year across 56 surveyed companies, about 69% more than the prior year, per the Fusion Industry Association's 2026 report. Nuclear Industry Association, reporting FIA data, 2026-07
- Cumulative fusion industry funding since 2021
- $14.24bnRaised by fusion companies since the FIA survey began; the industry reports more than 16,000 employees. Nuclear Industry Association, reporting FIA data, 2026-07
- ITER research operations (2024 baseline)
- 2034The 2024 rebaseline moved Start of Research Operation to 2034 and deuterium-tritium operation to 2039. ITER Organization, 2024-07
- US NRC fusion rule
- Proposed (Feb 2026)The proposed rule regulates fusion machines under the Part 30 byproduct-material framework; no final rule had been issued by mid-September 2026. US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2026-09-14
- DOE Milestone Program companies
- 8 ($46m)Private developers in DOE's milestone-based fusion development program, backed by $46 million in initially committed federal funding and working toward pilot-plant preliminary designs. US Department of Energy, 2025-01-16
- UK STEP prototype plant funding
- £1.3bnGovernment investment backing the STEP program at West Burton, Nottinghamshire. UK Fusion Energy, 2026
Every project
One record per project. Each row links to a page with its current state, a dated milestone log and the sources behind every figure.
1–10 of 51 projects
| Name | Country | Status | Concept | Developer | First plasma target | Grid power target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha (Proxima Fusion) | Germany | Design | Stellarator | Proxima Fusion | — | — |
| ARC (Commonwealth Fusion Systems) | United States | Design | Tokamak | Commonwealth Fusion Systems | — | — |
| Athena (Xcimer Energy) | United States | Concept | Laser inertial | Xcimer Energy | — | 2035 |
| BEST (Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak) | China | Under construction | Tokamak | Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP) / Fusion Energy (Anhui) Co. | — | — |
| C3 prototype (nT-Tao) | Israel | Operating | Other | nT-Tao | — | — |
| Century (Zap Energy) | United States | Operating | Z-pinch | Zap Energy | — | — |
| CFEDR / China Fusion Energy Co. demo reactor (successor to CFETR)low confidence | China | Design | Tokamak | China Fusion Energy Co. (CNNC-led) with ASIPP / SWIP | — | — |
| Copernicus (TAE Technologies)low confidence | United States | Under construction | Field-reversed configuration | TAE Technologies | — | — |
| CTRFR-1 / Startorus No.1 (Startorus Fusion) | China | Design | Spherical tokamak | Startorus Fusion | — | — |
| Da Vinci / first utility-scale plant (TAE Technologies) | United States | Concept | Field-reversed configuration | TAE Technologies | — | — |
| Demonstration System (Pacific Fusion) | United States | Under construction | Pulsed-power inertial | Pacific Fusion | — | — |
| EAST (Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak) | China | Operating | Tokamak | Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP) | — | — |
| Eos (Thea Energy) | United States | Design | Stellarator | Thea Energy | — | — |
| EU DEMO (EUROfusion Demonstration Power Plant)low confidence | European Union | Concept | Tokamak | EUROfusion consortium (EU Euratom programme) | — | — |
| FAST (Fusion by Advanced Superconducting Tokamak) | Japan | Design | Tokamak | Starlight Engine Ltd. / Kyoto Fusioneering | — | — |
| FLARE fusion neutron source (SHINE Technologies) | United States | Operating | Other | SHINE Technologies | — | — |
| Focused Energy laser fusion plant (Biblis) | Germany | Concept | Laser inertial | Focused Energy | — | — |
| FuZE-Q (Zap Energy) | United States | Operating | Z-pinch | Zap Energy | — | — |
| GIGA (Gauss Fusion) | Germany | Design | Stellarator | Gauss Fusion (Alcen, ASG Superconductors, Bruker EAS, IDOM, RI Research Instruments and partners) | — | — |
| Helix HARUKA (Helical Fusion) | Japan | Under construction | Stellarator | Helical Fusion | — | — |
| HH170 (Energy Singularity)low confidence | China | Design | Tokamak | Energy Singularity | — | — |
| HH70 (Energy Singularity) | China | Operating | Tokamak | Energy Singularity | — | — |
| Inertia Enterprises laser fusion plant | United States | Concept | Laser inertial | Inertia Enterprises | — | — |
| Infinity One (Type One Energy) | United States | Licensing | Stellarator | Type One Energy | 2029 | — |
| Infinity Two (Type One Energy / TVA) | United States | Licensing | Stellarator | Type One Energy | — | — |
| ITER | France | Under construction | Tokamak | ITER Organization (EU, China, India, Japan, Korea, Russia, US) | 2034 | — |
| JET (Joint European Torus) | United Kingdom | Shut down | Tokamak | UKAEA / EUROfusion | — | — |
| JT-60SA | Japan | Operating | Tokamak | QST (Japan) and Fusion for Energy (EU) | — | — |
| Junior levitated dipole (OpenStar Technologies) | New Zealand | Operating | Other | OpenStar Technologies | — | — |
| K-DEMO (Korean fusion demonstration reactor) | South Korea | Concept | Tokamak | Korea Institute of Fusion Energy (KFE) / Ministry of Science and ICT | — | — |
| KSTAR | South Korea | Operating | Tokamak | Korea Institute of Fusion Energy (KFE) | — | — |
| LM26 (General Fusion) | Canada | Operating | Magnetized target | General Fusion | — | — |
| Machine 4 (First Light Fusion) | United Kingdom | Cancelled | Other | First Light Fusion | — | — |
| Marvel Fusion / Colorado State laser facilitylow confidence | United States | Under construction | Laser inertial | Marvel Fusion | 2026 | — |
| MAST Upgrade | United Kingdom | Operating | Spherical tokamak | UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) | — | — |
| National Ignition Facility (NIF) | United States | Operating | Laser inertial | Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (NNSA) | — | — |
| Norm (TAE Technologies) | United States | Operating | Field-reversed configuration | TAE Technologies | — | — |
| NOVATRON 1 (Novatron Fusion Group)low confidence | Sweden | Operating | Magnetic mirror | Novatron Fusion Group | — | — |
| Orbitron / FusionWERX (Avalanche Energy) | United States | Licensing | Other | Avalanche Energy | — | — |
| Orion (Helion) | United States | Under construction | Field-reversed configuration | Helion Energy | — | 2028 |
| Phoenix (Xcimer Energy) | United States | Operating | Laser inertial | Xcimer Energy | — | — |
| Polaris (Helion) | United States | Operating | Field-reversed configuration | Helion Energy | — | — |
| SPARC (Commonwealth Fusion Systems) | United States | Under construction | Tokamak | Commonwealth Fusion Systems | 2027 | — |
| SST-1 (Steady State Superconducting Tokamak)low confidence | India | Operating | Tokamak | Institute for Plasma Research (Department of Atomic Energy) | — | — |
| ST40 (Tokamak Energy) | United Kingdom | Operating | Spherical tokamak | Tokamak Energy | — | — |
| ST80-HTS (Tokamak Energy)low confidence | United Kingdom | Design | Spherical tokamak | Tokamak Energy | 2026 | — |
| Stellaris (Proxima Fusion) | Germany | Design | Stellarator | Proxima Fusion | — | — |
| STEP Fusion (West Burton) | United Kingdom | Design | Spherical tokamak | UK Fusion Energy (UKAEA subsidiary) | — | 2040 |
| Wendelstein 7-X | Germany | Operating | Stellarator | Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) | — | — |
| WEST (Tungsten Environment in Steady-state Tokamak) | France | Operating | Tokamak | CEA (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) | — | — |
| WHAM (Wisconsin HTS Axisymmetric Mirror) | United States | Operating | Magnetic mirror | University of Wisconsin-Madison / Realta Fusion | — | — |
Breakdown
By status
Operating (21) · Design (11) · Under construction (8) · Concept (6) · Licensing (3) · Shut down (1) · Cancelled (1)
By country
United States (21) · China (6) · United Kingdom (6) · Germany (5) · Japan (3) · France (2) · South Korea (2) · Canada (1) · European Union (1) · India (1) · Israel (1) · New Zealand (1) · Sweden (1)
Questions
Questions
- When will fusion energy be commercially available?
- No fusion machine has yet delivered electricity to a grid. The earliest stated targets are developer claims: Helion says its Orion plant in Malaga, Washington will supply Microsoft from 2028, and several others target the 2030s. Public programs are slower; ITER plans research operations from 2034. Each record on this page lists the developer's stated targets beside its dated progress.
- Who is closest to commercial fusion power?
- There is no agreed answer, because companies measure progress differently. Projects with physical plant construction under way include Helion's Orion and Commonwealth Fusion Systems' SPARC demonstration machine, which targets first plasma in 2027. Filter the table by status to see every project under construction or operating, and check each record's milestone log for what has actually been achieved.
- Where will the first commercial fusion power plant be built?
- Announced first-plant sites include Malaga, Washington (Helion Orion), Chesterfield County, Virginia (CFS ARC), the TVA Bull Run site in Tennessee (Type One Energy Infinity Two) and West Burton in England (the government-backed STEP prototype). None is operating; see each record for its site and licensing status.
- How many fusion energy companies are there?
- The Fusion Industry Association surveyed 56 companies for its 2026 report. This tracker counts machines and plants rather than companies, so one developer such as Helion or Commonwealth Fusion Systems can have several records.
- Which fusion energy companies are publicly traded?
- Most fusion developers are private. General Fusion trades on Nasdaq as GFUZ after completing a SPAC combination. TAE Technologies agreed a merger with Trump Media, but it had not closed as of 11 October 2026. Records show a stock ticker only once a listing is confirmed.
- What is the difference between ITER and private fusion companies?
- ITER is an intergovernmental research tokamak under construction in France, designed to prove burning-plasma physics, not to sell power. Private companies are building smaller machines and their own pilot plants, often with novel designs such as high-temperature superconducting magnets, field-reversed configurations or lasers, and with commercial power purchase agreements.
- How much private funding has fusion energy raised?
- Fusion companies have raised $14.24bn since 2021, including a record $4.48bn in the twelve months to July 2026, according to the Fusion Industry Association's 2026 survey. Each record shows the developer's own disclosed total with its as-of date.
Method & scope
One record per fusion device or planned fusion power plant worldwide, covering private companies and public or national programs: research machines, demonstrators, pilot plants and first commercial plants. Component suppliers and fusion-adjacent businesses are excluded. The retired JET is kept for historical context, and First Light Fusion's cancelled Machine 4 documents a notable pivot.
Records were compiled from developer announcements, regulator filings (US NRC, Tennessee and Washington state licensing, UK Fusion Energy), ITER Organization and DOE publications, the Fusion Industry Association's annual survey and trade press. Funding is the developer's disclosed cumulative private funding with its as-of date. Targets for first plasma, net energy and grid power are the developer's own stated years; fusion schedules have historically slipped, and NNN does not endorse them.
Milestone logs are append-only: corrections are added as new entries, never rewrites. Records marked low confidence rest on thin or conflicting sources. Targets (first plasma, restart, completion) are the developer's or regulator's stated dates, not NNN forecasts.
License & data
Download the current-state CSV (CC BY 4.0, attribution required) or the full JSON snapshot with milestone history under the NNN Data License Terms. Underlying facts are facts; the grant covers NNN's compilation.
Cite this dataset as
Nuclear News Network, "Fusion Energy Companies & Projects Tracker", https://www.nuclearnewsnetwork.com/industry-trackers/fusion-energy-companies.