Germany Establishes Three Fusion Centers, HZDR Contributes to Advancing Key Technologies for Fusion Power Plants

The German Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) recently established three fusion centers under the German High-Tech Agenda (HTAD), aiming to pool the efforts of research institutions and industry to advance technology development for future fusion power plants. The German federal government will provide €125 million in initial funding for the related work, with a focus on laser fusion, magnetic confinement fusion, and cross-cutting areas such as fuel cycle and materials development.

The Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) will participate in the construction of the relevant centers leveraging its research infrastructure, contributing capabilities in high-power lasers, materials research, simulation and data analysis. The SAXFUSION capability network, jointly coordinated by HZDR and the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology (Fraunhofer IWS), will also take on tasks of exchange, cooperation and knowledge transfer.

In the construction of the VEGA laser fusion center, HZDR will conduct research using its two high-power laser facilities, DRACO and PENELOPE. These facilities can be used for experiments on the interaction of intense laser pulses with matter and for generating extreme states of matter relevant to inertial confinement fusion. The high-energy-density experimental station HED-HIBEF, built by HZDR in cooperation with the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser Facility (European XFEL), will also support the related research. The station combines high-power optical lasers with the high-brightness X-ray pulses of European XFEL, enabling researchers to observe material behavior and physical processes under extreme pressure and temperature conditions with high temporal and spatial resolution.

The newly established Institute of High Energy Density Physics (HEDI), as well as the high-energy-density research program conducted jointly by HZDR and the University of Rostock, will further combine experimental platforms, theoretical research and the training of early-career researchers.

Simulation, data analysis and digital models are foundational capabilities shared by all three fusion centers. The relevant technologies help to understand physical processes that can only be observed experimentally over very short time scales or under localized conditions. HZDR will combine experimental research with numerical simulation to comprehensively analyze different physical processes and their evolution across scales. High-performance computing, AI-assisted methods and data-driven models will also be applied to the related research. The Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS), a HZDR institute in Görlitz, has experience in analyzing complex systems and large-scale datasets and can support the evaluation of fusion concepts, the validation of key technologies, and the development of digital twin models for future fusion facilities.

In the MAT-TRIx center, coordinated by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), HZDR will participate as a collaborative research partner in the development and characterization of fusion-related materials. Leveraging the HZDR Ion Beam Center and radiochemistry laboratories, researchers can study the response of materials under high radiation fields and extreme operating conditions of future fusion devices, and explore targeted pathways for material improvement. The cooperation between KIT and HZDR will also strengthen the interface between the energy research and matter research areas within the Helmholtz Association.

The SAXFUSION capability network will connect the three centers and other participants in the fusion ecosystem. The network partners are involved in the work of all three centers, while also bringing research institutions, industry, start-ups, policymakers and relevant societal stakeholders outside the center system into the exchange. The network will promote knowledge and technology transfer, showcase expertise and cooperation opportunities, and help companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, enter the emerging fusion market. Through dialogue, training and development programs, SAXFUSION will also support the exchange of information on the opportunities and challenges of fusion energy.

Sebastian M. Schmidt, Scientific Director of HZDR, stated that fusion energy does not rely on a single technology but requires the coordinated advancement of high-level research infrastructure, experimental capabilities, simulation and computing, new materials and industrial expertise. He believes that the newly established fusion centers will integrate these resources in a more targeted manner, and that HZDR, with its research base and expertise, will contribute to the development of technologies relevant to Germany's and Europe's long-term energy supply.