In this article, we take a look at the 10 most advanced countries in nuclear fusion. You can skip our detailed analysis of recent developments in fusion energy and go directly to 5 Most Advanced Countries in Nuclear Fusion.
Energy is the engine of the global economy and fossil fuels make up most of the energy supply. However, carbon emissions from fossil fuels have been wreaking havoc on the climate, pushing the world further into existential crisis. The world needs to transition to net zero emissions conservatively by 2050 to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Despite the hype around energy sources like wind, hydro and solar, they are not remotely energy-dense for the needs of a civilization of our economic scale, even as they’ve become more cost competitive. The fact that fossil fuels’ share in the global energy mix reduced by just 0.1% from 2009 to 2019 is a clear indication of this.
Some stakeholders have pushed for nuclear fission, which is much more energy-dense than fossil fuels, as a viable and clean alternative. However, nuclear fission comes with problems of its own. For instance, fission energy costs an average of $150 per MegaWatt Hour (MWh), compared to $81 for gas power plants and $74 for coal-fired power plants, according to numbers from Bloomberg.
In addition to cost, the nuclear fission is not exactly emissions-free when secondary emissions from uranium mining and refinement are accounted for. Moreover, the risks of accumulative radioactive waste, nuclear weapons proliferation and nuclear meltdowns cannot be ignored.
Why Fusion is The Holy Grail of Clean Energy?
This brings us to nuclear fusion, which is much more cost competitive and energy-dense than nuclear fission, fossil fuels, as well as solar, hydro and wind energy. For instance, inertial-confinement-fusion cost could be as low as $25 per MWh, according to research published in Philosophical Transactions of-the Royal Society journal.
When it comes to energy density, nuclear fusion is four times more energy-dense than nuclear fission and almost four million times more dense than fossil fuels.
Another advantage that fusion has over sources of energy like nuclear fission, coal, oil and gas is that it is orders of magnitude more sustainable, with no carbon emissions or toxic nuclear waste. Moreover, there is no resource-constraint on fusion’s reactants.
Investment in fusion energy has seen a huge surge in recent years and real progress has been made in the field, with the most significant breakthrough coming in late 2022, as the National Ignition Facility successfully achieved a net positive gain of energy in a fusion reaction, a first in the history of fusion energy.
Public-Private Investments in Fusion Energy
The public and private investment in the fusion energy sector is rapidly growing, with private sector investment surpassing public funding for the first time in 2022. According to the Global Fusion Industry survey of 2022, public funding for the year stood at $4.7 billion, while private investments increased by 139% from 2021, reaching $4.8 billion.
The sector has seen the emergence of eight new companies since the 2021 Global Fusion Industry survey, bringing the total number of fusion energy companies to 33, with six of them having raised more than $200 million.
When it comes to the public sector, the US, EU, UK and Japan are heavily focusing on fusion. The EU accounts for 45% of the funding for the ITER project, and has decided to provide $6 billion for it for the period 2021-2027. Further, the EU is working with Japan on three Japan-based fusion projects aimed to complement the ITER.
The noteworthy development in the US is that the country has decided to invest significantly in the private fusion sector, in line with the Bold Decadal Vision. The first major investment of $50 million was announced by the Department of Energy in September, 2022.
The US invests roughly $0.7 billion every year on fusion energy research, and the money mostly goes to ITER, national labs and universities. This is the first major investment aimed towards the commercial development of fusion energy technology.
In the private sphere, the US-based TAE Technologies is among the most notable startups, and has raised $1.2 billion to date. The development comes after the $250 million the company raised in the latest Series G round in mid-2022. Among the company's prominent investors are Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS).
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been in partnership with TAE Technologies since 2014. However, the July, 2022 Series G round marked the first time Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has significantly invested in the startup.
Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), on the other hand, has invested in the company through its venture capital arm known as Chevron Technology Ventures. It is the first time Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) has invested in the company.
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) oversaw the advisory in relation to the Series G funding of the company. The company itself has been a prominent investor in TAE Technologies in the past. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) was part of the Tae Technologies’ Series C-2 funding back in 2007.
For our list, we have defined ‘advanced countries in nuclear fusion’ as ones that have the highest number of fusion research projects as well as startups. For this purpose, we first ranked them based on the number of projects and then for the number of startups. We then calculated the average ranking for each country based on their two rankings in startups and research projects. For countries with the same averaged-out rankings, we’ve used their ranking in startups as the tiebreaker.
For research projects, startups and their investors, we have sourced the data from Fusion Energy Base, a fusion energy database. For the latest funding rounds for startups, we’ve sourced data from Pitchbook.
Here are the 10 most advanced countries in nuclear fusion.
10. Australia
Startups Ranking: 3
Research Projects Ranking: 9
Average Ranking: 6
Australia is the biggest economy in Oceania and is considerably advanced in energy technologies. The country has one fusion energy startup called HB11, based in Sydney. The company follows the laser-boron-fusion approach and its latest funds came from a grant of $6 million in late 2022, as per Pitchbook. Australia currently does not have publicly funded fusion research projects.
9. Russia
Startups Ranking: 4
Research Projects Ranking: 7
Average Ranking: 5.5
Russia is considered the nuclear superpower of the world, with the highest number of nuclear weapons. It is pertinent to mention that Russia has also made strides in nuclear fusion. The country has four fusion research projects, with three in Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics and one in Kurchatov Institute.
Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics is most prominently known for projects like Globus-M2 and Gol-3, with the former being a spherical tokamak, and the latter having the mirror fusion approach. Russia does not have fusion energy startups as of 2023.
8. Italy
Startups Ranking: 4
Research Projects Ranking: 6
Average Ranking: 5
Italy’s fusion research projects make it one of the most advanced countries in nuclear fusion, despite it having no startups in the sector. The country has five research projects in two different institutes, with four of the projects being carried out at Consorzio RFX, using the reversed-field-pinch approach to fusion.
Its FTU tokamak is operated at ENEA, or the Italian National Agency for new technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development.
7. United Kingdom
Startups Ranking: 2
Research Projects Ranking: 8
Average Ranking: 5
The UK is one of the leading countries in fusion energy. There are currently three fusion startups based in the UK, namely, First Light Fusion, Tokamak Energy and Fusion Reactors, with the first two being the most prominent.
First Light Fusion uses the inertial-confinement-fusion approach. The company achieved fusion in April, 2022, as confirmed by the UK Atomic Energy Authority. The company achieved fusion using less than $54 million. According to Pitchbook, First Light Fusion has raised $480 million in later-stage venture capital, with the funding round still in progress.
Tokamak Energy, on the other hand, has built several spherical tokamaks, with the latest prototype to be built at UKAEA’s Culham Campus. The UK is also one of the most advanced countries in nuclear fusion with regard to research projects in universities and labs, with three projects.
Its Imperial College London and University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology are known for the projects MAGPIE and SPHEX Spheromak, respectively, while the UKAEA operates ZETA, a fusion reactor following the stabilized-pinch approach.
6. France
Startups Ranking: 3
Research Projects Ranking: 5
Average Ranking: 4
France is known for the startup Renaissance Fusion, which has so far raised $16.1 million in the latest seed round, which concluded in late January, 26, 2023. Renaissance Fusion is developing stellarators that use high temperature superconductors.
While France only has one startup in the fusion energy domain, it makes up for that with its six publicly funded research projects at institutes like Ecole Polytechnique and CEA.
