# Fusion Energy Beyond ITER — The Race to Commercial Fusion

**URL:** https://thecodex.expert/energy/nuclear/fusion/
**Session:** 30 | **Date:** 2026-05-05

## Summary

Fusion energy: D-T fusion reaction, virtually unlimited fuel (deuterium from seawater, tritium from lithium). NIF ignition 5 December 2022 (37.69N 121.71W LLNL, 3.15 MJ out from 2.05 MJ laser input, Q>1 for fuel — first time in history). Full facility Q still ~0.01. Approaches: ITER tokamak (43.69N 5.77E Cadarache France, 35 nations, $22B, Q=10 target, first plasma 2025-30). Commonwealth Fusion Systems SPARC (42.36N 71.10W Cambridge MA, REBCO HTS magnets 20+ Tesla, ARC commercial by 2030s, $1.8B raised). W7-X stellarator (54.08N 13.09E Greifswald, 2023 records). TAE Technologies (33.67N 117.83W, proton-boron aneutronic fusion). Helion Energy (47.98N 122.20W, Microsoft PPA, 2028 target). General Fusion (49.25N 123.00W Vancouver). ~35 private companies, >$6B raised (FIA 2024). Will fusion help with climate? Probably not significantly before 2050. Fission vs fusion: no chain reaction, no CO₂, waste decades not millennia. Sources: NIF Dec 2022, FIA 2024, ITER Organization, CFS.