It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
US private fusion energy company TAE Technologies and the UK Atomic Energy Authority have announced a bilateral and reciprocal investment commitment to commercialise TAE's proprietary particle accelerator technology for the global market.
At the centre of the partnership is the new joint venture TAE Beam UK – acollaborative entity that will harness the partners' collective scientific leadership, commercialisation experience and market innovation to develop this highly versatile advanced particle accelerator technology, beginning with neutral beams for fusion. The venture aims to design, develop, and ultimately manufacture and service neutral beams for a wide range of fusion approaches, as well as adapt the accelerator technology for state-of-the-art cancer therapeutics, and other applications like food safety and homeland security.
TAE's approach to fusion combines advanced accelerator and plasma physics, and uses abundant, non-radioactive hydrogen-boron (p-B11) as a fuel source. The proprietary magnetic beam-driven field-reversed configuration (FRC) technology injects high-energy hydrogen atoms into the plasma to make the system more stable and better confined. This solution is compact and energy efficient, California-based TAE says.
For a fusion machine to produce electricity, it must keep plasma steadily confined at fusion-relevant conditions. On TAE's current fusion machine, eight powerful neutral beams are placed at precise angles to meet those requirements. Inside each neutral beam canister, protons are accelerated and then combined with electrons to create a stream of neutral, high-energy hydrogen atoms (the 'neutral beam'). Because the particles have no charge, they can bypass the fusion reactor's magnetic field to provide heating, current drive and plasma stability. TAE is the first to use neutral beams for both FRC plasma formation and high-quality plasma sustainment – resulting in a streamlined design that is smaller, more efficient and more cost-effective.
The same accelerator technology that produced TAE's sophisticated neutral beam system for fusion has also been adapted for TAE's medical technology subsidiary, TAE Life Sciences, to provide a non-invasive, targeted treatment for complex and often inoperable cancers.
The new TAE Beam UK joint venture will operate out of UKAEA's Culham Campus, in Oxfordshire, UK. UKAEA - which carries out fusion energy research on behalf of the UK government - plans to make an equity investment of GBP5.6 million (USD7.4 million) in this new venture, including engaging some of the world's best scientists to work on this critical fusion technology and leverage expertise built up over decades of operating JET. TAE Beam UK is supported by TAE's own nine-figure investment in the technology due to TAE's own usage requirements over the next several years. The project aims to deliver the first short-pulse beams within 18-24 months of the start of work. The transaction remains subject to customary regulatory approvals.
"The UK has long been at the forefront of fusion innovation, and we're proud to deepen our partnership with UKAEA," said TAE Technologies CEO Michl Binderbauer. "The UK's world-class scientific talent and unwavering commitment to commercialising fusion energy make the country an ideal partner as we scale neutral beam technology from lab to market. Together, we're building critical infrastructure for the fusion supply chain and ensuring that the US-UK partnership can together remain central to the fusion economy of the future."
UKAEA CEO Tim Bestwick added: "UKAEA is very much looking forward to working in partnership with TAE Technologies on developing neutral beams and commercialising this exciting technology, bringing jobs and growth to the UK. They have shown the way as a global leader in applying fusion technologies to other markets, and TAE Beam UK will join TAE Life Sciences and TAE Power Solutions as great examples of this innovation in action."
The Fusion by Advanced Superconducting Tokamak project, designed to demonstrate fusion energy power generation in Japan in the 2030s, has reached its first key milestone, Starlight Engine and Kyoto Fusioneering have announced.
(Image: Kyoto Fusioneering)
The Conceptual Design Report has been put together in the year since the project's launch in November 2024, and involved the two companies and researchers and experts from a number of Japanese universities and public institutions, as well as support from a number of other Japanese companies.
The Fusion by Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (FAST) device, to be sited in Japan, aims to generate and sustain a plasma of deuterium-tritium (D-T) reactions, demonstrating an integrated fusion energy system that combines energy conversion including electricity generation and fuel technologies. The project will employ a tokamak configuration, chosen for its well-established data and scalability.
Targeting a power generation demonstration by the end of the 2030s, FAST will address remaining technical challenges en route to commercial fusion power plants. The FAST Project Office notes that power generation refers to producing energy from fusion reactions, but does not imply net positive power production where electricity output exceeds electricity consumption.
The project team said the conceptual design work involved "designing the fusion energy plant for power generation demonstration, assessing technical and engineering feasibility, clarifying the project direction, conducting safety and economic evaluations, and defining the plant's fundamental design specifications".
"With the completion of the conceptual design phase, the project will now shift to engineering design, accelerated engineering R&D, and will proceed with site selection, site preparation, regulatory approvals, and the procurement of long-lead items, with the aim of construction after 2028," it said.
Kiyoshi Seko, CEO of Starlight Engine Ltd and President and COO of Kyoto Fusioneering Ltd, said: "Completing the conceptual design in just one year is a result of Japan's decades of research achievement. FAST is now moving into the engineering design phase. We will harness the strength of Japan's manufacturing industry and accelerate the project with a sense of urgency."
Satoshi Konishi, co-founder and CEO of Kyoto Fusioneering, said: "First and foremost, it's a great achievement to complete the conceptual design activities within the planned one-year timeframe. We succeeded in creating an innovative design that incorporates new technologies essential for commercial plants, such as high-temperature superconducting magnets, liquid breeding blanket systems, and highly efficient tritium fuel cycle systems, by mobilising domestic experts. Preparations for safety design, regulatory approvals, and site selection are steadily progressing. In the next engineering design phase we expect to fully leverage our strengths in plant engineering and our broad network across diverse industries, including finance and construction."
Kenzo Ibano, Assistant Professor, Osaka University, said: "Thanks to the power of industry-academia collaboration, we have successfully produced Japan’s first CDR for a power generation demonstration project. Working alongside researchers with decades of experience and private-sector partners in driving this project forward is both stimulating and rewarding, giving a strong sense of mission."
The Conceptual Design Report is due to be presented at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Japan Society of Plasma Science and Nuclear Fusion Research being held from 1 December.
Other academics and businesses participating in and supporting the FAST project include Professor Akira Ejiri, University of Tokyo and Professor Takaaki Fujita, Nagoya University, as well as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Electric Power Development (J-Power), JGC JAPAN Corporation, Hitachi, Fujikura, Furukawa Electric, Marubeni Corporation, Kajima Corporation, Kyocera, Mitsui & Co., Mitsui Fudosan, and Mitsubishi Corporation.
A ceremony has been held to mark the arrival of the first of the four test rigs at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor construction site in southern France.
(Image: Rosatom)
The test rig is designed for vacuum, thermal, and functional testing of port plugs, which are a key diagnostic element of the giant multinational fusion facility. It was manufactured in Bryansk in Russia by GKMP Research and Production Association, for the ITER Project Centre, which is part of Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom.
Testing will now take place, with the aim being to try to replicate as closely as possible operational conditions.
Anatoly Krasilnikov, Director of the ITER Project Centre, said: "This test facility is one of the most complex and science-intensive systems in the scope of our responsibilities for the project. To develop and manufacture it, our key suppliers had to develop and implement cutting-edge innovative solutions."
ITER Project Manager Sergio Orlandi said the work demonstrated Russia's high industrial capabilities, "which ensured the project's completion on time, with the required quality, and within budget. I would like to express special gratitude to the Russian Federation specialists who provided expert supervision throughout all stages of the facility's design, procurement, and assembly. I also express my gratitude to Rosatom State Corporation for ensuring the creation of such a critical system".
ITER is a major international project to build a tokamak fusion device designed to prove the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale and carbon-free source of energy. The goal of ITER is to operate at 500 MW (for at least 400 seconds continuously) with 50 MW of plasma heating power input. It appears that an additional 300 MWe of electricity input may be required in operation. No electricity will be generated at ITER.
Thirty-five nations are collaborating to build ITER - the European Union is contributing almost half of the cost of its construction, while the other six members (China, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the USA) are contributing equally to the rest. Construction began in 2010 and the original 2018 first plasma target date was put back to 2025 by the ITER council in 2016. However, in June last year, a revamped project plan was announced which aims for "a scientifically and technically robust initial phase of operations, including deuterium-deuterium fusion operation in 2035 followed by full magnetic energy and plasma current operation".
Zap Energy exceeds gigapascal fusion plasma pressures on new fusion device, FuZE-3
New generation of fusion device reaches record plasma pressures in a sheared-flow-stabilized Z pinch
Operating a new device named the Fusion Z-pinch Experiment 3, or FuZE-3, Zap Energy has now achieved plasmas with electron pressures as high as 830 megapascals (MPa), or 1.6 gigapascals (GPa) total, comparable to the pressures found deep below Earth’s crust. The results are the highest-pressure performance to date in a sheared-flow-stabilized Z pinch and an important marker on the path to scientific energy gain, or Q>1.
FuZE-3 is Zap’s first device to incorporate a third electrode to separate the forces that drive plasma acceleration and compression. Details of the preliminary results were presented today at the American Physical Society’s Division of Plasma Physics meeting in Long Beach, Calif.
“There are some big changes in FuZE-3 compared to Zap’s previous systems and it’s great to see it perform this well so quickly out of the gate,” says Colin Adams, Head of Experimental Physics.
Under Pressure
Unlocking energy from fusion requires an extreme recipe of hot, dense plasma. Reaching high pressures, a measurement that combines temperature with density, is essential in fusion because the higher the plasma pressure, the more fusion reactions occur and produce energy. While some fusion machines strive for the highest pressures that can possibly be attained, others rely on longer confinement times to make up for low pressure. Zap’s sheared-flow-stabilized Z pinches aim for a middle ground that balances both compression and confinement.
Zap’s highest single-shot electron pressure measurement to date is 830 MPa. However, plasmas are more than just electrons; they are composed of both electrons and much heavier ions. If the temperature of both the electrons and ions are close to equal, as they are expected to be, the total plasma pressure (electrons and ions) is roughly double the electron measurements, or 1.6 GPa. A gigapascal is about ten thousand times the atmospheric pressure at sea level, or ten times the pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
The pressures were sustained for approximately a microsecond (one millionth of a second) and were determined using a technique called optical Thomson scattering, the gold-standard for such measurements.
The recent FuZE-3 campaigns include multiple repeated shots with electron densities in the range of 3-5x1024 m-3 and electron temperatures above 1 keV (equal to 21,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit).
“This was a major effort by the team that was successful because of a tightly coupled cycle of theoretical predictions, computational modeling, rapid build and test engineering, experimental validation, and measurement expertise,” remarks Ben Levitt, Vice President of R&D. “With a smaller system we have the benefit of being able to move quickly, and achieving these results in systems that are a fraction of the size and cost of fusion devices of comparable performance is a big part of what makes this such a significant accomplishment.”
Introducing FuZE-3
FuZE-3 is the third generation of FuZE devices, and the fifth sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch device. Zap’s initial device FuZE was the first to exceed 1 keV temperatures and has now been decommissioned. FuZE-Q, Zap’s highest performing device by power and fusion neutron yield, remains in regular operation alongside FuZE-3.
FuZE-3 was designed to climb to new levels of triple product, an important metric in fusion that is the mix of three measurements: density, temperature and confinement time. Critically, it includes three electrodes and two capacitor banks.
Separating acceleration and compression
Tests at Zap to date have relied on systems with a single pulse of electrical current conducting between two electrodes. This means that the power driven into the device must accelerate the plasma to provide stabilizing flow as well as compress the plasma into a Z pinch.
“The capability to independently control plasma acceleration and compression gives us a new dial to tune the physics and increase the plasma density,” explains Adams. “The two-electrode systems have been effective at heating, but lacked the compression targeted in our theoretical models.”
Though the new measurements demonstrate very high pressures, Zap’s physics is a form of quasi-steady-state magnetic confinement, not the inertial fusion physics targeted by systems that compress a target in nanoseconds using huge arrays of powerful lasers (or also in some cases Z pinches). For Zap’s approach, controlling plasma acceleration to generate and sustain stabilizing flow is as important as controlling compression.
Aiming for milestone triple products
Zap’s latest results remain preliminary as the team continues active scientific campaigns on FuZE-3. Further details are being presented this week at the APS DPP meeting and the team plans to publish FuZE-3 results in the scientific literature in the coming months.
“We’re really just getting started with FuZE-3,” says Levitt. “It was built and commissioned just recently, we’re generating lots of high-quality shots with high repeatability, and we have plenty of headroom to continue making rapid progress in fusion performance. We’ll be integrating lessons from FuZE-3 into our next generation systems as we continue advancing toward commercial fusion.”
While FuZE-3 tests are ongoing, Zap plans to commission yet another next generation FuZE device, scheduled to come online this winter. Power plant engineering continues in parallel, anchored by the Century demonstration platform.
About Zap Energy
Zap Energy is building a low-cost, compact and scalable fusion energy platform that confines and compresses plasma without the need for expensive and complex magnetic coils. Zap’s sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch technology provides compelling fusion economics and requires orders of magnitude less capital than conventional approaches. Zap Energy has 150 team members in Seattle and San Diego and is backed by leading financial and strategic investors.
A high-speed camera captures a sheared-flow-stabilized Z pinch inside the FuZE-3 device. The camera is pointed straight toward the column of fusion plasma and the compression wave is visible as it collapses inward. The process takes only around a microsecond.
Credit
Zap Energy
The hidden rule behind ignition — An analytic law governing multi-shock implosions for ultrahigh compression
A theoretical compass to complement the age of AI-driven fusion physics
Conceptual illustration of the Stacked Converging Shocks (SCS) framework. Each successive shock stage compresses the target further in a self-similar manner, producing a geometrically ordered sequence of pressure waves. The relation ρr ∝ P̂β(N−1) expresses how the final density increases with the stage-to-stage pressure ratio P̂ and the number of shocks N, where β is a constant determined by the adiabatic index γ. The horizontal arrow indicates the direction of time, showing the cumulative buildup of compression through multiple converging shocks. While schematic, the image evocatively conveys the harmony and rhythm underlying the extreme dynamics of matter under compression.
Osaka, Japan — Physicists at The University of Osaka have unveiled a breakthrough theoretical framework that uncovers the hidden physical rule behind one of the most powerful compression methods in laser fusion science — the stacked-shock implosion. While multi-shock ignition has recently proven its effectiveness in major laser facilities worldwide, this new study identifies the underlying law that governs such implosions, expressed in an elegant and compact analytic form.
A team led by Professor Masakatsu Murakami has developed a framework called Stacked Converging Shocks (SCS), which extends the classical Guderley solution — a 1942 cornerstone of implosion theory — into the modern high-energy-density regime. In this self-similar system, each stage of compression mirrors the previous one, forming a repeating pattern of converging waves that amplify both pressure and density in perfect geometric proportion. The result reveals a natural harmony underlying one of the most extreme processes in physics.
From Simulation to Understanding
Recent ignition experiments worldwide have relied heavily on massive numerical optimization and AI-assisted design. Murakami’s work provides a long-missing analytic counterpart — a framework that can describe the same physics using simple, transparent scaling laws. It is, in his words, “not a substitute for computation, but a theoretical compass that guides it.”
The SCS framework bridges two approaches that have long advanced separately — data-driven simulation and analytic insight — showing that both can operate as two wheels of the same vehicle in the pursuit of fusion ignition.
A Universal Scaling Law
Hydrodynamic simulations confirm the analytic predictions across both weak- and strong-shock regimes. As the number of shocks increases, the cumulative process tends toward a quasi-isentropic (nearly reversible) behavior, suggesting an efficient pathway to achieve ultradense states of matter. The work establishes a universal scaling law that directly links the number of shocks, stage-to-stage pressure ratios, and final compression — an analytic bridge connecting classical theory with next-generation fusion design.
Why It Matters
Extreme compression lies at the heart of many scientific frontiers:
- Fusion Energy: Offers a new analytic foundation to complement large-scale AI-driven design in achieving efficient, multi-stage implosions. - Material Science: Enables exploration of solid matter under multi-gigabar pressures. - Astrophysics: Helps model the evolution of dense stellar and planetary interiors in laboratory settings.
Beyond its immediate applications, the study marks a philosophical shift — showing that even in an age dominated by computation, this work reminds us that clarity from first principles remains indispensable for progress. ###
The article, “Self-Similar Multi-Shock Implosions for Ultra-High Compression of Matter,” was published in Physical Review E at DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/bbvn-x95v
About The University of Osaka
The University of Osaka was founded in 1931 as one of the seven imperial universities of Japan and is now one of Japan's leading comprehensive universities with a broad disciplinary spectrum. This strength is coupled with a singular drive for innovation that extends throughout the scientific process, from fundamental research to the creation of applied technology with positive economic impacts. Its commitment to innovation has been recognized in Japan and around the world. Now, The University of Osaka is leveraging its role as a Designated National University Corporation selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to contribute to innovation for human welfare, sustainable development of society, and social transformation.
Germany has announced a €1.7 billion investment in nuclear fusion, aiming to develop the world's first commercial fusion reactor, a significant reversal of its long-standing anti-nuclear energy stance.
This policy shift is driven by Germany's ambitious decarbonization goals and the need to overhaul its energy mix, moving away from heavy reliance on fossil fuels.
The investment positions Germany at the forefront of a global technology race in nuclear fusion, a field experiencing major breakthroughs and considered crucial for future energy sovereignty.
Germany just made a huge bet on nuclear fusion, putting an exclamation point at the end of its historic u-turn on nuclear energy policy. A new action plan from Chancellor Friedrich Merz aims to ensure that the world’s first commercial fusion reactor and throws €1.7 billion ($1.98 billion) in funding behind the cause. The unexpected announcement is making major waves in what is already a conflicted political environment when it comes to energy planning.
This announcement comes as something of a shock considering that Germany has been Europe’s staunchest nuclear energy opponent for years. Germany decommissioned its last three nuclear power plants offline in 2023, and has – until very recently – stood firmly unified in this resolve. "We have decided to phase out nuclear power. This has also been accepted by society," the nation’s Environment Minister Carsten Schneider told Deutsche Welle (DW) just a few months ago. "There are no further commitments [to the nuclear industry], nor will there be any," he went on to say.
But cracks have been showing in that unified front for a while now. Back in May, German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche publicly said that she was "open to all technologies,” marking a major departure from Germany’s traditional stance. Even more surprising, Germany ceded its side of a long-standing nuclear energy cold war with France, agreeing to make peace with French officials by dropping anti-nuclear power rhetoric from European Union legislation.
Even against this backdrop, however, Germany’s bid to become the preeminent global superpower for nuclear fusion technology is a surprising one. But though it’s politically fraught, the plan has logical strategic grounding. An ambitious approach to clean energy production is absolutely necessary if Germany has any hope of meeting its decarbonization goals. As Europe’s largest economy, Germany’s greenhouse gas footprint is also pivotal to the wider climate goals of the European Union. The pressure is on for the nation, which currently relies heavily on fossil fuels, to overhaul its energy mix in the coming years.
Sarah Klein, commissioner for fusion research at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology in Aachen, told DW this week that investing in fusion technology is a "smart long?term strategic bet” that “keeps Germany at the forefront of a global technology race.” She added that in tandem with renewable energy development, nuclear fusion is “crucial for ensuring energy sovereignty after the phaseout of fossil fuels.”
Germany’s policy shift comes as part of a sea change of nuclear energy sentiment in Europe and abroad. Just this year, Italy and Denmark began motions to overturn their respective 40-years ban on nuclear energy production, and the government of Spain indicated that they were considering extending the lives of domestic nuclear power plants slated for phaseout.
The shift also comes at a time of major technological breakthroughs in the field of nuclear fusion science. Researchers around the world are racing to achieve commercially viable nuclear fusion, and they are getting closer all the time. China, in particular, is investing heavily in fusion research and development and aims to achieve viability by 2050. Labs in the United States are also breaking record after record for achieving net positive energy production from their laser-based fusion models.
The ramifications of any country or project achieving commercial nuclear fusion are difficult to overstate. In the words of a Daily Galaxy report from earlier this year, “If China or any other nation succeeds in making fusion commercially viable, it could trigger an energy revolution, transforming how the world powers homes, industries, and even space exploration.”
And, of course, it means a major geopolitical leg up for the country that gets there first. As a result, even Germany, once the world’s biggest anti-nuclear government, is now throwing its hat into the crowded ring.
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