On October 16th, 2025, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science unveiled its Fusion Science & Technology (FS&T) Roadmap.
The report lays out an ambitious plan for U.S. deployment and commercialization of nuclear fusion energy technology by the mid-2030s. By employing the Build-Innovate-Grow strategy, the Trump administration hopes to beat China in the nuclear fusion race. Thus far, $9 billion in private sector investments in the industry have been secured. Commonwealth Fusion Systems in Virginia intends to build the first commercial power plant in the United States.
The FS&T Roadtrip argues, “While the U.S. private sector is investing > $9B to demonstrate sustaining burning plasma on the path to fusion power plants, there remain critical science, materials and technology gaps, such as the breeding and handling of fusion fuels, that must be closed. These critical gaps require innovation and bridging of public and private sectors.”
Several DOE officials teased the report release a day before at the inaugural Fusion Industry Association (FIA) U.S. Fusion Forum held on October 15th, 2025, in Washington, D.C. I attended the forum on behalf of the Independent Women’s Center of Energy and Conservation.
Both fission and fusion are nuclear processes that generate electricity from atoms, but differ in processes and byproducts.
Fission, a process that produces electricity by splitting atoms from uranium or plutonium, is already commercialized in the U.S. Fission-generated energy then heats water into steam and spins a turbine to produce this reliable electricity source. As of this writing, there are 94 active fission-powered nuclear power plants in the U.S. that cumulatively generate 97 gigawatts (GW) of electricity. That’s enough electricity to power, at minimum, 72.8 million homes.
In contrast, fusion fuses atoms—like hydrogen—together to generate electricity and produces helium as a byproduct. Although not commercially viable yet, it’s a promising technology that produces abundant energy that has no emissions or radioactive waste. As the National Science Foundation explains:
Fusion reactions take place in a state of matter called plasma, a super-hot, charged gas made of atomic nuclei and free-moving electrons. Because all nuclei are positively charged, they repel each other, preventing fusion under most conditions. However, the extreme heat of plasma causes the nuclei to move so fast that they overcome this repulsion, collide and then fuse. A confined plasma housing millions of these reactions every second can generate vast amounts of energy from very little fuel.
Last month, Independent Women senior policy analyst Carrie Sheffield and I visited NearStar Fusion in Chantilly, Virginia, to learn more about fusion technology.
NearStar is pioneering a “scalable and modular Magnetized Target Impact Fusion (MTIF) approach” to allow commercially viable designs to integrate with existing grids or new microgrid infrastructure. Their technology borrows heavily from the Reagan-era SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) Star Wars program.
Like fission energy, fusion energy is an abundant, reliable, secure energy source that can fulfill our rising electricity needs and maintain human flourishing. Our Center for Energy and Conservation is excited about fusion energy’s potential to power our grid.
To learn more about energy abundance, go HERE.