Through the motions, the MPs are calling on the federal government to “promptly develop a proposal for a pragmatic, innovation-friendly and independent legal framework for fusion power plants in Germany with corresponding sub-legal safety guidelines” and to submit the proposal to relevant committees of the German Bundestag.

A group of experts including individuals from FIA member companies Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Proxima Fusion, and Marvel Fusion testified at the hearing. The panel emphasized the major differences between nuclear fission and fusion energy. They made it clear that private fusion companies will establish first plants in countries with clear regulatory frameworks. The panelists were united in their call for rapid government action to establish clear, innovation-friendly regulations that differentiate fusion from fission. This action would not only support the fusion industry in Germany but also attract and retain investments and talent. Without this, Germany risks losing its competitive edge.

This hearing represents a critical step in ensuring Germany, and more broadly, the European Union, have the necessary legal infrastructure to support the accelerating fusion industry. The FIA applauds the German government and those involved, and stands ready to support.

Next steps:
The proposals will now undergo detailed reviews by the German Bundestag. This stage will involve discussions and potential refinements to the motions. Once the review process is complete, the Committee on Education, Research, and Technology Assessment will formulate recommendations. The recommendations will serve as a guide for the Bundestag. Following the Committee’s recommendations, the motion will be brought to the floor of the Bundestag for debate. If the motion receives approval, the German Federal Government will act on the directives, and would develop a concrete innovation-friendly legal framework.

You can watch the hearing at bundestag.de.

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This year’s report finds an increase in supply chain spending, investment opportunities, specific technological and material constraints, and plans by supplier companies to expand their collaboration with fusion developers over the course of the year. The report also shows there is still a need for greater long term certainty around financing and policy to give suppliers the confidence to scale up and meet the future needs of the fusion industry.

Key findings of this report:

• Increased supply chain spend – 2023 saw a growth in reported supply chain spend. The reported figure of $484,900,000 in 2022 grew to $612,184,500 in 2023. This is a significant undercount since not all companies provided spend data.
• Project growth for 2024 – Fusion companies reported plans to spend 21% more on their supply chain in 2024 vs 2023
• Challenges and risks – A variety of critical components were highlighted as having current or future supply risks, including cryogenic devices, HTS wire, power electronics, and vacuum chambers.
• Investing capacity – 77% of our fusion supply chain member companies are investing in growing their capacity to support the fusion industry, with investments ranging from tens of thousands to several million.
• Expansion plans – 100% of supply chain respondents plan to expand their work with fusion companies over 2024.
• Need for long-term financial and policy certainty – Greater long term certainty around financing and policy is still needed to give the supply chain confidence to scale up to meet future needs of the fusion industry.

The 2024 Supply Chain Report highlights the critical role of diverse and robust supply chains in achieving commercial fusion power at scale. As we look forward to a future powered by fusion, supply insights will help guide key industry and policy decisions, ensuring a resilient, innovative, and expansive supply network to support the accelerating industry.

You can download and read the full report.

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The FIA and The Fusion Cluster call on all incoming MPs and Government to:

1. Visit the UK’s public and private Fusion facilities, and see that we are ready to deliver.
2. Sustain support for: the STEP programme, wider UKAEA research activities, and progression of other fusion technologies towards first plants.
3. Progress the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s work supporting skills and driving growth in innovative private industry in the UK.
4. Continue and deepen support for international and multilateral cooperation to accelerate the deployment of fusion energy.
5. Continue supporting measures to stimulate private fusion investment.
6. Continue developing the planning measure, National Policy Statement EN-8.
7. Begin to develop, with industry, an energy market framework which is ready to adopt private fusion powerplants.

The global race for commercial fusion is on, with companies aiming to deliver commercial plants through the coming years – making large-scale deployment through the 2030s and 2040s a real prospect. The fusion industry could be worth £billions to the economy in the coming decades – and offers a British export to overcome global climate change. This will only be possible if we stimulate private investment, alongside public programmes, to develop, operate and own fusion technology across the value chain.

Please contact Tristam Denton, FIA UK Director, and Valerie Jamieson, Manager of The Fusion Cluster, with any questions.

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On regulation, participants had the chance to hear more about the regulatory regimes that will apply to fusion facilities in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, giving some food for thought for the future European regulatory framework. 

It is clear that a dedicated and risk-appropriate fusion framework, distinct from nuclear fission, is needed to provide legal certainty. The fusion regime must also reflect the diversity of fusion technologies. 

While some challenges to the development of fusion energy remain to be solved, whether scientific, technical, or financial, getting the right regulatory framework is equally critical to enable and accelerate fusion commercialisation in Europe. 

The conference programme covered many other topics selected by the International Group of Legal Experts on Fusion Energy (FELEX) in its Key Issues Report.

FELEX was established by Fusion for Energy, the European Domestic Agency for ITER in 2023 as an informal international expert group to provide expertise and guidance in the legal and regulatory aspects of the development of fusion energy, with the aim of fostering the widest international cooperation possible, facilitating the development of state-of-art legal and regulatory frameworks for fusion technologies, and promoting the safe and sustainable advancement of fusion energy for the benefit of all humankind.

FELEX will review the outcome of the 2024 Roundtable conference, update its Key Issues Report with a goal to arrive at common positions that may serve as recommendations for relevant international bodies. To support and contribute to the activities of FELEX, FIA will become an observer to the expert group.

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Commercial fusion power will unlock unparalleled benefits across an array of areas – economic, energy independence, national security, climate, and energy accessibility. Nations that enact policy aligned with industry will be the first to benefit. With good policy, governments can accelerate the timeline that the unrivaled promise of fusion — energy that is clean, abundant, efficient, and secure — is brought to their marketplace.

Commercializing Fusion Energy charts three primary courses of action: harness public-private partnerships; ensure predictable regulatory regimes; and level the playing field.

• Harness public-private partnerships
  When faced with a challenge that requires long-term deployment of capital and political stability, a public-private partnership (PPP) structured properly can be among the most powerful tools in modern society. National flexibility of PPP concepts ensures that such an agreement could be custom-built to meet the mission needs of fusion, harnessing the decades of fusion research experience in government programs and combining that expertise with the ambitions and nimbleness of the private sector. The over $6.2b invested in private fusion companies worldwide is a clear demonstrated interest of investment firms in fusion technologies. Generating robust PPPs focused on deploying fusion power and bolstering supply chains, backed with government support in multiple forms, would give investors and suppliers the confidence needed to back fusion firms at a higher level, and allow fusion firms to accelerate their timelines.
  
• Ensure predictable regulatory regimes
  Regulatory certainty is a necessary condition for commercialization of fusion power. For investors and companies to deploy capital and commit to commercialization timelines, they need confidence in the regulatory frameworks established by government. This is critical for the siting and construction of pilot projects and commercial-scale facilities in any sector, not just fusion. Fusion needs specific, clear regulations that are entirely separate from nuclear fission. The two processes are fundamentally different, with vastly different risks, hazards, and safety profiles. In order to deploy and scale, fusion needs regulatory treatment that is right-sized to the technology, and not tied to legacy fission regulations as a default.
  
• Level the playing field
  Governments understand the importance of clean energy, and have showered these industries with subsidies and other incentives. It is imperative that fusion energy technologies receive fair treatment alongside other clean energy sources. With shared goals of bolstering energy security, combating climate change, and advancing human health, fusion has the potential to make an important impression, but it needs the same subsidies to compete.

Enacting policy well-aligned with the quickly growing fusion industry is paramount for countries hoping to position themselves as sites for early deployers and adopters. The global stage for fusion will be set by those that effectively align public and private sectors, solidify appropriate regulatory frameworks, and include fusion on a level clean energy playing field.

The full paper is below and available for download.

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The report outlines opportunities for investment and areas of Canadian strengths to capitalize on. Importantly, it calls for next steps: “key fusion ecosystem players to sit down with the government to discuss, adapt and enhance the preliminary strategy roadmap.”

The FIA applauds CNL and all involved for their work in fostering greater national efforts supporting fusion commercialization, and stands ready to support.

The vision
Fusion as a source of safe, clean, affordable energy — providing opportunities for a resilient, lowcarbon future, positioning Canada as a global leader and supplier of fusion technologies and services,
and enabling a high standard of living for Canadians.

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories

You can read the roadmap summary below.

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The Fusion Energy Act was introduced to the Senate by Senators Padilla, Cornyn, Booker, Young, and Murray on April 18. The legislation streamlines the implementation of commercial fusion by codifying the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) unanimous, bipartisan decision to regulate fusion energy systems under NRC’s byproduct materials process. It also requires the NRC to study and report to Congress within one year regarding licensing commercial fusion machines, including streamlining considerations.

Its companion bill – the Fusion Energy Act of 2023 – was passed earlier in the year in the House of Representatives as a part of the Atomic Energy Advancement Act. Representatives Lori Trahan and Jay Obernolte introduced the Fusion Energy Act of 2023 as an amendment during the committee consideration of the bill. The Act amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to add a new definition of “fusion machines” as particle accelerators. That clarification confirms the NRC decision in US law.

This distinction will allow for a more streamlined deployment route for fusion energy, crucial to ensuring the United States’ position as a global leader in commercial fusion development.

The Fusion Industry Association and its 37 member companies, all working to commercialize fusion energy, strongly support legislative efforts around the world to permanently and completely separate fusion energy regulations from nuclear fission. When signed into law, the United States will be the second country to enact specific fusion regulations into law – following the United Kingdom’s enactment of fusion regulatory legislation in October 2023. The FIA applauds Congress on this important bipartisan, bicameral achievement.

The FIA thanks the sponsors in the House and Senate of the Fusion Energy Act, the members of the bipartisan, bicameral Fusion Energy Caucus, and Chairman Carper and Ranking Member Capito of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee for all their work in bringing this legislation to final passage.

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The committee directs the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering to provide a briefing to the House Committee on Armed Services by March 1, 2025 that includes:

1. An assessment of the technology readiness levels of fusion power technologies currently in development, including compact and modular approaches,
2. An assessment of the potential for compact modular fusion power technologies to address needs and challenges described in the National Defense Strategy and other relevant strategic guidance documents,
3. An assessment of fusion power technologies under development by adversaries or strategic competitors of the United States, and
4. An identification of key supporting activities for and pacing challenges to the adoption of compact fusion power technologies responsive to Department of Defense needs.

Below is the excerpt on fusion; you can read the full Report below.

Compact fusion energy sources

The committee notes with interest the announcement by the Defense Innovation Unit on May 17, 2022, regarding accelerated ground and flight testing for compact fusion energy sources for on-orbit power. The committee believes that compact fusion power technologies, if matured to an appropriate level, could provide significant advantages to the Department of Defense. The committee likewise notes ongoing progress made by the Department of Defense Strategic Capabilities Office on Project Pele, an effort to design, build, and demonstrate a prototype mobile nuclear fission reactor. In particular, the committee is monitoring with interest the work done by Project Pele to demonstrate the ability of mobile nuclear power generation technologies to comply fully with all relevant regulations and statutory requirements, satisfy stakeholder concerns, and operate safely in real-world conditions. The committee believes that such pathfinder efforts could ultimately prove beneficial for eventual adoption and deployment of compact fusion capabilities. Therefore, the committee directs the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering to provide a briefing to the House Committee on Armed Services not later than March 1, 2025, that includes: (1) an assessment of the technology readiness levels of fusion power technologies currently in development, including compact and modular approaches; (2) an assessment of the potential for compact modular fusion power technologies to address needs and challenges described in the National Defense Strategy and other relevant strategic guidance documents; (3) an assessment of fusion power technologies under development by adversaries or strategic competitors of the United States; and (4) an identification of key supporting activities for and pacing challenges to the adoption of compact fusion power technologies responsive to Department of Defense needs.

Report of the Committee on Armed Services House of Representatives on H.R. 8070

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“Fusion energy technology has the potential to provide a lasting solution to the global challenges of climate change and energy security. We will promote international collaborations to accelerate the development and demonstration of fusion plants to foster private investments and public engagement. With this aim, we commit to establishing a G7 Working Group on Fusion Energy. We will also work towards consistent approaches to fusion regulations. To enhance cooperation in this field, we welcome Italy and the International Atomic Energy Agency’s decision to host in Rome the inaugural ministerial meeting of the World Fusion Energy Group.”

– G7 Leaders’ Communiqué

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