Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Down to Business
  • Published:

On the brink of a new era in nuclear fusion R&D

Increasing public and private investment, experimental and technological breakthroughs, and a growing number of demonstration plants and testing facilities under development could bring fusion technology to the delivery era by mid-century. Global cooperation and effective regulation are vital in accelerating progress.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: The number of fusion devices with varying sources of funding and at different stages.

References

  1. IPCC Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (eds Masson-Delmotte, V. et al.) (Cambridge Univ. Press, in the press).

  2. Tollefson, J. MIT launches multimillion-dollar collaboration to develop fusion energy. Nature 555, 294–295 (2018).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. MIT-designed project achieves major advance toward fusion energy. MIT (8 September 2021); https://news.mit.edu/2021/MIT-CFS-major-advance-toward-fusion-energy-0908

  4. Beidler, C. D., Smith, H. M. & Alonso, A. et al. Demonstration of reduced neoclassical energy transport in Wendelstein 7-X. Nature 596, 221–226 (2021).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. National Ignition Facility experiment puts researchers at threshold of fusion ignition. LLNL (18 August 2021); https://www.llnl.gov/news/national-ignition-facility-experiment-puts-researchers-threshold-fusion-ignition

  6. Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act Public Law 115–439 (United States Congress, 2019); https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ439/PLAW-115publ439.pdf#page=8

  7. Options for a Regulatory Framework for Fusion Energy Systems (United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2021); https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2111/ML21118A081.pdf

  8. Towards Fusion Energy: The UK Government’s Proposals for a Regulatory Framework for Fusion Energy (UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, 2021); https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1022286/towards-fusion-energy-uk-government-proposals-regulatory-framework-fusion-energy.pdf

  9. Fusion Device Information System (FusDIS) (IAEA, 2021); https://nucleus.iaea.org/sites/fusionportal/Pages/FusDIS.aspx

  10. Rebirth of HT-6M: TT-1 in Thai (Institute of Plasma Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2021); http://english.ipp.cas.cn/news/202106/t20210615_271968.html

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matteo Barbarino.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Barbarino, M. On the brink of a new era in nuclear fusion R&D. Nat Rev Phys 4, 2–4 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-021-00412-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-021-00412-4

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing