Pacific Fusion breaks ground on New Mexico facility

The campus at Mesa del Sol will house the company's Demonstration System, designed to achieve net facility gain by 2030, producing more energy from fusion than the total energy initially stored in the machine. It said net facility gain has never before been demonstrated and represents a key milestone on the path to commercial fusion power.

The Demonstration System will also produce bursts of high-energy fusion output exceeding 100 megajoules, making it the only "high-yield" fusion facility under construction in the USA. High-yield fusion refers to the capability to create certain conditions relevant to national security research, providing a long-sought platform for the science required to maintain the US nuclear stockpile without explosive nuclear testing.

At a ceremony on Tuesday to mark the start of construction of the campus, Pacific Fusion and the US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding to identify collaboration opportunities related to high-yield fusion, high-energy-density science, pulsed-power technologies, advanced materials, modelling and simulation, and other areas of shared national interest.

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Pacific Fusion said its investment is also designed to establish the foundation for a broader fusion manufacturing industry in New Mexico. The Research and Manufacturing Campus project will bring more than 200 long-term jobs to the state, along with hundreds more construction jobs, workforce development programmes, and regional economic activity. Pacific Fusion is also expanding manufacturing operations in Los Lunas, where it will build modular pulsed-power components for its fusion systems.

Pacific Fusion was founded in 2023 and is developing a pulser-driven inertial fusion system using modular, mass-manufacturable components made of readily available materials. Its technology advances decades of US government investment at national laboratories, including Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The company said it is now moving into the next phase of its growth, scaling production of its modular pulsed-power technology and expanding its manufacturing footprint in New Mexico. Its next major technical milestone is the demonstration of a full-scale pulser module, which will serve as the core building block for its fusion system.

"America pioneered the breakthroughs that brought fusion within reach. Pacific Fusion is focused on converting that scientific leadership into industrial capability and infrastructure that strengthens US energy leadership and national security," said Keith LeChien, the company's co-founder and Chief Technology Officer. "Today's groundbreaking shows that America can still build the hard things, and build them faster than any other country, including China."

"The country that figures out how to manufacture and deploy these systems at scale will create an entirely new energy industry around them," said Carrie von Muench, Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Pacific Fusion. "We want that industry, its supply chains, and its jobs to be built here in America."