RIC panel discusses pathway to fusion commercialization

Fusion leaders at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's annual Regulatory Information Conference discussed the path forward for regulating the burgeoning fusion industry. The speakers discussed government and private industry initiatives in the United States and United Kingdom, with a focus on efforts shaping the near-term deployment of commercial fusion machines.

A recurring theme was the need to explain the difference between fission and fusion. Representatives from the Department of Energy and Type One Energy highlighted this as an important distinction for regulators, as it will allow fusion to undergo its own independent maturation process for developing standards and regulations in the same way that fission has. Lea Perlas, Fusion Program director at the Virginia Department of Health, said that confusion between fission and fusion has been a common cause for misplaced concerns among community members surrounding Commonwealth Fusion Systems' proposed fusion plant site near Richmond, Va.

A high priority for the U.S. government: Jean Paul Allain, associate director of Science for Fusion Energy Sciences (SC-FES) in the DOE Office of Science, and Ed Harvey, senior health physicist in the NRC's Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards and technical lead for the NRC's fusion program, spoke about the efforts of their respective offices to prepare for the emergence of fusion technologies.

Allain highlighted the DOE's broad investments in fusion over several decades, funding research at 61 universities, 15 national laboratories, and 23 private companies. He said that currently private and public research endeavors have complementary goals. The private sector is accelerating quickly through prototypes, utilizing technology that's been developed in the public sector over many decades, and the public side is supporting areas that aren't receiving as much private investment funding, such as advanced materials for fusion reactors or the availability of breeding blankets.

He said supply chain is factored into the DOE's fusion road map, considering tritium and lithium availability as well as access to specialized technology like superconducting magnets and high-power electronics. Allain said that the DOE aims to replicate a manufacturing consortium model currently being piloted in Texas.

Harvey covered the NRC's recently announced proposed rule change for fusion regulation, which is open for comment until May 27.

The NRC has also developed a fusion road map, mapping out key steps toward the approval of the first commercial fusion machine design-including technical readiness, regulatory optimization, and industry progress tasks-and projecting the timeline to be within the next five years.

The NRC has chartered a standing committee for fusion machine oversight that serves as an advisory role. Harvey said it is a key way that the NRC communicates with agreement state that have fusion machine companies within their jurisdiction, helping it track licensing processes and identify gaps.

"The intent here is to make sure that the NRC and agreement state staff are ready and able to process fusion machine license applications, as well as overall be able to inspect them and maintain safe oversight of fusion machines when they start to be constructed and deployed," he said, noting that the NRC is already working on the next phase of fusion rulemaking, including working toward developing a fee structure for fusion machines.

Perlas is paving the way for stakeholder engagement at fusion power plant sites through working with Commonwealth Fusion Systems on its proposed fusion plant site, which secured a power purchase agreement with Google in 2025. She emphasized the need to be a presence at meetings where community members express regulation concerns, as well as attention to detail, such as translating materials to all languages spoken in the impacted community.

"You want to show up as the individual or the agency that serves the community and show them that you are delivering the same message that the industry is delivering," said Perlas. "It's important for the community to see this as an aligned and collaborative approach and not just another industry coming into their community and establishing themselves."

Commonwealth Fusion Systems has made recent news for its work with AI and digital twins, including a partnership with Nvidia, to accelerate the design development of its tokamak system SPARC.

The U.K.'s established framework: Andrew Mayall, deputy director of nuclear and radioactive substances regulation strategy at the U.K.'s Environment Agency, said that the country is regulating fusion just like any other use of radioactive materials in the nonnuclear sector.

"The regulation of fusion in the U.K. is proportionate to the hazards and risks," he said. "We don't really care too much on what the technology is as long as it's providing good environmental performance, safety performance, and meets the goals and standards required."

Mayall said that, based on recommendations from a review in 2021, the agency has been building up its capacity and capability in the fusion section, including regulation.

On March 16, the U.K. government announced its fusion strategy, which aims to provide a clear path to commercial fusion energy in the country.

Industry perspective: Type One Energy made recent progress toward establishing a fusion power plant in Tennessee, submitting a byproduct material license application in late January. Pascal Dumont, senior director of global regulatory affairs and licensing at Type One, spoke about safety analysis and tritium management.

He said the company has found that most radiation safety constraints are addressed by engineering and commercial constraints and that the CANDU industry has provided a well-developed model for managing tritium release.

"The rules of safety analysis for fission are anchored in a great deal of years of operating experience," said Dumont.

He said mixing fission and fusion would be detrimental for all nuclear technology and that he believes the U.S. has made the right decisions for how it is regulating and licensing fusion.

Dumont also said that there's discussion between the fusion and CANDU industry about untapped sources of tritium in the CANDU family.