Manchin, Committee Examine Fusion Energy Technology Development

Washington, DC- Today, United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Joe Manchin (I-WV) convened a full committee hearing to examine fusion energy technology development and commercialization efforts. During the hearing, Chairman Manchin discussed the opportunity that fusion energy presents and the continuing challenges preventing the technology from being deployed at commercial scale.

“Fusion energy would be a total game changer,” said Chairman Manchin during his opening statement. “It’s dispatchable power that is zero-emitting, and, unlike conventional nuclear fission, we have abundant and accessible fuel for fusion, with minimal waste.”

“We know energy has played a major role in spurring the wars of the past century, but widely-available fusion power would help end conflicts over energy,” said Chairman Manchin. “In 2022, I visited the ITER experimental site in France, where the U.S. and 32 other countries are working together to get the first fusion reactor online— including not just our allies, but also countries of concern, China and Russia. While we are in conflict on other geopolitical issues, we are cooperating on ITER because all of these countries see the merit and promise of fusion energy.”

“Despite decades of research and a rapid increase in global investment in fusion energy technologies, no one has been able to produce fusion energy at a commercial scale,” Chairman Manchin continued. “ITER continues to face delays and its new startup date is in 2039, four years later than we hoped—we need to get a better understanding of why that is.”

The Committee received testimony from Dr. Jean Paul Allain, Associate Director of the Office of Fusion Energy Services at the United States Department of Energy (DOE); Jackie Siebens, Director of Public Affairs at Helion Energy and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center; and Dr. Patrick White, Research Director at Nuclear Innovation Alliance.

During the hearing, Chairman Manchin questioned the witnesses on the timeline for fusion energy power plants to be operational.

“I am concerned when I hear that China now is doubling down and coming stronger and stronger at us to take the lead on fusion,” Chairman Manchin questioned. “I will ask the hard question—when can we realistically expect the first fusion power plant to be online?”

“There is no question that we are in a race, and I am glad that you point this out. The realization of fusion energy is one of the most significant challenges to mankind,” answered Dr. Allain. “The good news is that after decades of investments in public programs and the public sector, these have actually enabled the private sector to step up investments towards fusion technology development.”

“We have technologies available today that we haven't had before that are accelerating this race towards commercialization and building that first working machine. Combined with the fact that the regulatory framework for fusion allows companies, like Helion, to actually build and iterate and build again quickly, that is absolutely key for us moving quickly,” said Ms. Siebens. For instance, for us at Helion, we've built six working fusion machines since we were founded approximately 11 years ago.”

“I think the real answer to why we think we can get fusion energy on the grid more quickly is technology innovation,” said Dr. White. “The challenge is with innovation—the timeline of that can be uncertain. It really is up to the private industry to work through the innovation process and figure out if these enabling technologies can rapidly accelerate the deployment of fusion energy.”

Chairman Manchin also questioned the panel on how the ongoing need to reform the federal energy permitting process could affect fusion energy advancement.

“Because of the constraints that we have on the grid system, do you believe you see an impediment there that might cause a problem coming on, even if you have the technology?” asked Chairman Manchin. “Are you concerned about the constraints you might have hooking to the grid unless we are able to pass permitting reform?”

“That's where we do see challenges in being able to deploy our machines at the rate that we can build them to meet the demand that we see,” said Ms. Siebens. “I think the permitting bill goes a long way in helping ensure that we're able to connect to the grid and solve some of the transmission issues that we're facing.”

 

To view the archived webcast from the hearing, click here.

To read Chairman Manchin’s full opening statement, click here.

To read written testimony from Dr. Allain, click here.

To read written testimony from Ms. Siebens, click here.

To read written testimony from Dr. White, click here.