The US Department of Energy has released a roadmap to expand fusion generation in the US, with a timetable to make fusion a part of the national energy portfolio by the mid-2030s.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released its Fusion Science and Technology (FS&T) Roadmap, a national strategy to accelerate the development and commercialization of fusion energy on a faster, more responsible timeline. The Roadmap defines DOE’s Build–Innovate–Grow strategy to align public investment and private innovation to deliver commercial fusion power to the grid by the mid-2030s.
This effort advances the recent executive order, Unleashing American Energy, reinforcing the federal government’s commitment to expand domestic energy production. By accelerating progress toward commercial fusion power, DOE is strengthening America’s grid, rebuilding critical supply chains, and securing a new era of abundant, reliable, American-made energy.
Developed with input from more than 600 scientists, engineers, and industry stakeholders, the Roadmap identifies the key research, materials, and technology gaps that must be closed to realize a Fusion Pilot Plant (FPP) and strengthen U.S. leadership in the global fusion industry.
The FS&T Roadmap establishes a unified strategy for the U.S. fusion enterprise built around three primary drivers:
- Build critical infrastructure to close fusion materials and technology gaps;
- Innovate through advanced research, high-performance computing, and artificial intelligence; and
- Grow the U.S. fusion ecosystem through public-private partnerships, regional manufacturing hubs, and workforce development.
With more than $9 billion in private investment already advancing burning-plasma demonstrations and prototype reactor designs, DOE is coordinating a national effort to close the remaining technical gaps—spanning materials, plasma systems, fuel cycles, and plant engineering. Through the Build–Innovate–Grow strategy, DOE and its partners across national laboratories, industry, universities, and allied nations are strengthening domestic supply chains, advancing fusion science, and securing America’s leadership in the race to deliver commercial fusion energy. The Roadmap outlines DOE’s plan to address these challenges through coordinated investments in six core fusion science and technology areas: structural materials, plasma-facing components, confinement systems, fuel cycle, blankets, and plant engineering and integration.
— U.S. Department of Energy (@ENERGY) October 17, 2025
What is Fusion Energy (from DOE):
Fusion energy scienceis a multi-disciplinary field focused on the science needed to develop an energy source based on controlled fusion. Fusion occurs when two nuclei combine to form a new nucleus. This process occurs in our Sun and other stars. Creating conditions for fusion on Earth involves generating and sustaining a plasma. Plasmas are gases that are so hot that electrons are freed from atomic nuclei. Researchers use electric and magnetic fields to control the resulting collection of ions and electrons because they have electrical charges. At sufficiently high temperatures, ions can overcome repulsive electrostatic forces and fuse together. This process—fusion—releases energy.
