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American Fusion's Fusion Platform Patent Applications Reach 100

American Fusion announced on August 24 that the total number of patent applications it has filed around its Texatron Fusion Engine platform has reached 100, including 17 newly filed U.S. patent applications. The company stated that these applications primarily cover the structural design, fuel injection, electromagnetic configuration, and system architecture of the Texatron platform. According to the company's disclosure, the 17 newly filed applications were submitted between August 16 and 22, 2026, covering aluminum fusion confinement structures, clamshell and monobloc housings, hollow annular inner cavities, rifled inner wall geometries, electromagnetic field structures, helium-3 and deuterium...

2026-08-25

Expansion Project Advances at Centrus Energy's Uranium Enrichment Facility in Piketon, Ohio

Centrus Energy said on August 24 that Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lieutenant Governor Jim Tressel, JobsOhio CEO J.P. Nauseef, along with state, federal, and local stakeholders, visited the company's uranium enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio, to discuss the development of the U.S. domestic nuclear fuel supply chain and Ohio's role in it. In September 2025, Centrus Energy announced a multi-billion-dollar expansion of the Piketon uranium enrichment plant. Currently, the expansion...

2026-08-25

SASAC: Accelerating the Cultivation of Talent for Controlled Nuclear Fusion

The website of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) released a notice on August 24, stating that on August 19, the Special Training Program for Talent in the Future Energy Sector of Central Enterprises, hosted by SASAC, commenced in a combined online and offline format. Tan Zuojun, Member of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of SASAC, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. The training program focuses on the direction of controlled nuclear fusion within the future energy sector, leveraging the Controlled Nuclear Fusion Innovation Consortium to promote collaborative research among industry chain-related units and accelerate the cultivation of urgently needed talent in the field of controlled nuclear fusion. The opening ceremony emphasized the need to strengthen research and understanding of the development patterns of controlled nuclear fusion, clarify the main technical roadmap directions, drive original innovation and breakthroughs in foundational technologies,...

2026-08-24

Kyoto Fusioneering Completes 25.72 Billion Yen Series D Funding Round

Japanese fusion startup Kyoto Fusioneering announced on August 24 that it has completed the first closing of its Series D funding round, with total financing of 25.72 billion yen. Of this amount, equity financing totaled 16.72 billion yen and debt financing totaled 9 billion yen, with the debt portion comprising credit lines and loan facilities. With this, the company's cumulative equity financing has reached 32.98 billion yen. Following this funding round, Kyoto Fusioneering is valued at approximately 120 billion yen, a significant increase from its pre-funding valuation, making it the first startup in Japan's fusion sector to exceed a valuation of 100 billion yen. The company has previously secured contracts exceeding 14 billion yen cumulatively in markets such as North America and Europe, and has set a short-term sales target of approximately 10 billion yen.

2026-08-24

Beijing's First Second-Generation High-Temperature Superconducting Tape Mass Production Line Project Approved

Recently, the second-generation high-temperature superconducting tape R&D and production project invested in by Energy Singularity Superconducting Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Energy Singularity, was officially approved for project initiation in the Daxing section of the Airport Economic Zone. Once completed and put into operation, the project will establish Beijing's first mass production line for second-generation high-temperature superconducting tape. According to reports, the project plans to build three production lines for rare-earth barium copper oxide (ReBCO) high-temperature superconducting tape based on the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) process route, achieving an annual output of 1,200 kilometers of high-temperature superconducting tape in the 12 mm width specification. High-temperature superconducting tape is a key raw material for manufacturing high-temperature superconducting magnets. In tokamak devices, high-temperature superconducting tape accounts for approximately...

2026-08-24

U.S. Plans to Launch Nuclear Fission-Powered Spacecraft to Fly by Mars by End of 2028

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is advancing the Space Reactor-1 "Freedom" (SR-1 Freedom) mission, with the goal of launching a nuclear fission-powered spacecraft by the end of 2028 to validate deep-space nuclear electric propulsion technology. According to existing mission documentation, the mission plans to fly by Mars in 2029 and deploy the SkyFall payload. The SR-1 Freedom is neither a fusion spacecraft nor a crewed Mars vehicle. Its core experiment is to operate a small uranium fission reactor, an energy conversion system, and Hall-effect thrusters in coordination beyond Earth orbit, accumulating engineering data for future higher-power deep-space missions...

2026-08-24

Japan's GX Promotion Organization Invests in Nuclear Fusion Startups

Japan's Green Transformation Promotion Organization (GX Promotion Organization) has invested in two startups, focusing on nuclear fusion-related technology and plastic recycling businesses respectively. The public funds invested are expected to be approximately 3 billion yen; when private sector funds are included, the total related investment is expected to reach approximately 20 billion yen. The two companies are Kyoto Fusioneering and JEPLAN. Among them, Kyoto Fusioneering is primarily engaged in the development of nuclear fusion engineering technology, while JEPLAN is involved in circular economy businesses such as plastic recycling. Details of the investment are expected to be officially announced by the relevant parties. This investment is seen as part of Japan's push to industrialize its green transformation.

2026-08-24

Italy's Eni Plans to Build Commercial Nuclear Fusion Power Plant in Europe by Early 2040s

Italian energy company Eni plans to build a commercial nuclear fusion power plant in Europe by the early 2040s or sooner. Francesca Ferrazza, head of Eni's magnetic confinement fusion project, stated that nuclear fusion technology has seen significant progress in recent years, and competition in the field is accelerating. Ferrazza said that nuclear fusion, which was previously confined mainly to the research stage, has now begun to meet the conditions for industrial application. She noted that Eni's goal is to promote the deployment of a commercial nuclear fusion power plant in Europe by the early 2040s, or even earlier. Eni has also shown interest in the extraction, purification, and recycling of spent fusion fuel back into reactors. Recently, Eni has...

2026-08-24

Xingtu Helium Energy's First Satellite "Xingtu-1" Passes Feasibility Review

On August 23, 2026, Beijing Xingtu Helium Energy Space Technology Co., Ltd. organized a feasibility review meeting for the Xingtu-1 lunar probe. Experts from aerospace research institutes, renowned universities, and leading commercial space companies formed a review expert panel to evaluate the project plan. At the meeting, the Xingtu Helium Energy model development team presented the "Xingtu-1 Lunar Probe Feasibility Plan Report," covering the probe's technical scheme, project progress, and subsequent implementation arrangements. The review expert panel affirmed the technical scheme, project progress, and commercial value of Xingtu-1, while offering optimization suggestions for key challenges in engineering implementation. Xingtu Helium Energy...

2026-08-24

Naju City, Korea Proposes Construction of National Fusion Energy Center

Naju City, Korea recently proposed the concept of building a national-level fusion energy center, planning to use the locally planned artificial sun research facility as a foundation to connect the entire process of fusion energy from basic research, demonstration and validation, to power generation and industrialization. On August 21, Naju City Mayor Yoon Byung-tae visited the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy (KFE) and met with its President Oh Young-kuk. Yoon proposed that Naju City would strive to host the fusion demonstration reactor (DEMO) linked to the artificial sun research facility, while promoting the construction of a government-led comprehensive fusion energy research base and industrial cluster, and applying for the designation of a specialized fusion energy...

2026-08-22

ITER vacuum vessel assembly in France progresses steadily, with five European sectors at different critical stages

The vacuum vessel assembly work for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project in southern France is progressing steadily. As the core component of the ITER tokamak device, the vacuum vessel will contain the plasma confined by superconducting magnets, serving as the critical space where fusion reactions occur. This stainless steel ring-shaped structure weighs approximately 5,200 tonnes in total, measures 19.4 meters in diameter, and consists of nine sectors, five of which are manufactured by Europe. The European Fusion for Energy organization (F4E), together with the AMW consortium comprising Ansaldo Nucleare, Westinghouse Electric Italy, and Walter Tosto Company, is responsible for the related manufacturing work.

2026-08-21

Progress in Tritium Containment and Radiation Protection Materials Research at the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Recently, Associate Researcher Huo Zhipeng of the Fusion Reactor Blanket and Safety Research Center at the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with his supervised master's students Zhang Jie and Chen Zuoyang, developed a class of flexible PbWO4-B4C reinforced silicone rubber composites with dual functions of tritium safety containment and nuclear radiation protection. The related research results were published in Journal of Materials Research and Technology. Future fusion facilities require comprehensive performance from radiation protection materials in tritium safety containment systems, including airtight sealing, flexibility for easy assembly and disassembly, and radiation shielding capability, for penetration hole sealing, post-maintenance, and high-flux neutron and γ-ray radiation protection. The research...

2026-08-21

German SIBAF Project Receives €9.7 Million to Support Fusion Materials Research

On August 20, 2026, with funding from the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), the SIBAF project will launch the construction of an accelerator infrastructure for fusion materials research. The project, whose full name is Superconducting Ion Accelerator as a Foundational Technology for Fusion Research, will receive €9.7 million over three years, of which €8.1 million is allocated to the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research (GSI) and its Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), currently under construction. Goethe University Frankfurt will also participate in the project. SIBAF is part of the funding program "Fusion Foundational Technologies — Toward the Fusion Power Plant." Project objectives...

2026-08-21

Russia Plans to Build New Tokamak Device Using Reactor Technologies

Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom, recently stated at a nuclear energy development conference that Rosatom is collaborating with the Kurchatov National Research Centre to build a new tokamak device using reactor technologies. Likhachev said that fusion energy technology is one of the key directions for Russia's nuclear energy development. Currently, the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and China are all advancing related projects, and technological competition in the field of controlled thermonuclear fusion continues to intensify. Russia hopes to use this project to maintain its technological leadership in this knowledge-intensive nuclear energy sector.

2026-08-21

U.S. SYNOPTICS Produces Large-Size Yb:YLF Crystal for Inertial Confinement Fusion Laser Systems

On August 19, SYNOPTICS, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman, announced that it had successfully grown and harvested a large-size ytterbium-doped yttrium lithium fluoride crystal, namely a Yb:YLF crystal ingot. The crystal measures approximately 127 millimeters at its widest point, with a diameter three times the industry standard. SYNOPTICS stated that as laser engineering continues to expand toward higher efficiency and higher power, the demand for gain media with larger apertures and larger dimensions continues to grow. The Yb:YLF crystal produced this time is approximately 20% larger than the largest crystal the company had previously grown, and approximately 50% larger than the company's conventional product size. Kevin Stevens, General Manager of SYNOPTICS, stated that yttrium lithium fluoride is a commonly used host material for laser-active rare-earth ions, and scaling up the growth of YLF crystals will help laser engineers continue to raise the upper limit of achievable laser output power. He said that such materials are of significant importance for applications including directed energy, inertial confinement fusion, and industrial laser systems. Stevens also stated that Yb:YLF crystals can be used in applications requiring reduced thermal lensing effects and enhanced pulsed energy storage capability, while also leveraging their natural birefringent host to achieve polarization characteristics. According to information recently released by SYNOPTICS, some of the crystals will be used in the high-energy laser system at the German Electron Synchrotron Research Center (DESY) to support its inertial confinement fusion energy research. The company is currently studying the feasibility of further scaling up the size of Yb:YLF crystals, and plans to extend the relevant processes to other rare-earth-ion-doped YLF crystals, including holmium, thulium, and neodymium doping systems.

2026-08-21