Fusion is Ready. Is Trump’s Washington?

[Marlin]

Fusion is Ready. Is Trump's Washington?

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/07/24/nuclear-fusion-commonwealth-washington-massachusetts-01010625

[Core Content]

Commonwealth Fusion Systems is accelerating the assembly of its SPARC fusion reactor in Massachusetts, aiming to achieve net energy gain by 2027. The company is currently transitioning from laboratory-scale research to industrial manufacturing, utilizing high-temperature superconducting magnets to demonstrate the viability of commercial fusion power for the electrical grid.

The industry is now seeking $10 billion in federal funding to scale pilot plants and establish supply chains, arguing that private capital alone is insufficient to compete with international efforts. However, these requests face resistance in Washington, where fusion must compete for limited budget resources against established fission technologies, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing initiatives.

Companies chasing the power of the sun say they're ready to scale. Convincing Washington to spend billions could prove harder than building the reactor.

A crane hoists a magnet into place during the assembly of a fusion demonstration machine at Commonwealth Fusion Systems' headquarters in Devens, Massachusetts, on July 1, 2026. | Commonwealth Fusion Systems

**DEVENS, Massachusetts —** On a rainy July day at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a former U.S. Army base-turned-research park forty miles northwest of Boston, dozens of material science experts and engineers are intently focused on the task at hand: assembling huge, 10-foot long magnets out of stacks of superconducting copper-colored tape on a massive factory floor.

Read the full article at politico.com:
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/07/24/nuclear-fusion-commonwealth-washington-massachusetts-01010625