The Department of Energy is investing $42 million to establish research and development hubs focused on inertial fusion energy.
The Inertial Fusion Energy Science and Technology Accelerated Research program will be led by the University of Rochester, Colorado State University and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, DOE announced Thursday.
The multi-institutional hubs will specialize in several disciplines including laser energetics and laser-plasma interaction. The agency will use $9 million from fiscal year 2023 funding and $33 million from the fiscal 2024 budget to support the three facilities.
The University of Rochester will lead the Inertial Fusion Energy-Consortium on Laser-Plasma Interaction Research hub, which will be managed by four other universities and private companies.
CSU will oversee the Inertial Fusion Science and Technology center, whose members include General Atomics.
The National Science and Technology Accelerated Research for Fusion Innovation and Reactor Engineering center will be led by LLNL, which last year achieved fusion ignition for the first time in scientific history.
“Harnessing fusion energy is one of the greatest scientific and technological challenges of the 21st Century,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm remarked. “The scientists in these hubs will be the vanguard of game-changing and planet-saving breakthroughs.”
