Pacific Fusion pulsed-power facility to host external users

Pacific Fusion is preparing to start construction on a pulsed-power inertial fusion facility in New Mexico, and today the company announced it is seeking expressions of interest from researchers in industry, academia, and government who may want to run experiments at the facility.

Demonstration plans: According to Pacific Fusion, the new facility-which it calls a demonstration system-is expected to deliver 10 megajoules to a high-energy-density target.

"This exceeds other pulsed fusion facilities by factors of 5 to 10 and will be the highest flux, highest-yield, highest-gain pulsed fusion facility globally by the end of the decade," said Keith LeChien, cofounder and chief technical officer of Pacific Fusion.

Plans currently include 17 diagnostic instruments around the target chamber with capabilities covering nuclear, X-ray, and optical regimes and flexibility for users to install other hardware.

Opportunities for research: Pacific Fusion said it will use information received during the expression of interest process to build out an understanding of potential users' needs, which may inform what capabilities are developed at the facility. The company plans to make a call for more detailed proposals in 2027, with experiments for external users expected to begin in 2029.

At this stage, there is no funding structure in place for potential users. LeChien said they will be looking at resource models over the next few years and that he expects there to be pathways for researchers to obtain funding to conduct experiments at their facilities, such as through the Department of Energy.

"it's too early to say" what fraction of the facility's usage time will be dedicated to use by external partners, according to LeChien.

Looking to the future: In April 2025, Pacific Fusion announced it was on track to achieve net facility gain by 2030. Its recent advances in target concepts utilizing premagnetization offer a less expensive option than what is typically used, the company said.