Pacific Fusion Breaks Ground on $1B Albuquerque Facility to Challenge China in Energy Race

Key points

• Pacific Fusion is constructing a $1 billion site in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with a hardware assembly plant in Los Lunas.
• The facility targets a 2030 milestone to demonstrate net facility energy gain, where fusion output exceeds total electrical input.
• The technology uses pulsed-power inertial confinement, discharging high-current electrical pulses to compress fuel capsules.
• The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration has signed a formal collaboration agreement with the company.
• The project builds on decades of research at Sandia, Los Alamos, and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories.

Background

This development follows recent advancements in high-pressure physics, such as Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s 2026 research on diamond melting under extreme pressure, which improved understanding of fuel compressibility in inertial confinement experiments. The project also aligns with broader US efforts to maintain technological leadership in energy and defense sectors amid global economic shifts.

How outlets are covering it

Interesting Engineering emphasizes the commercial and national security implications, highlighting the use of modular, standard electrical parts to reduce costs and the strategic race against China. The Albuquerque Journal focuses on the local economic impact, detailing the partnership between the Department of Energy and Pacific Fusion, and the potential for future pulsed-power plants to provide baseload power to the regional grid via Public Service Company of New Mexico.

Why it matters

Achieving net facility energy gain would be a first for any laboratory, potentially validating a new, cost-effective pathway for fusion energy. The collaboration with the National Nuclear Security Administration also addresses a 30-year gap in experimental platforms for studying materials under conditions similar to those inside nuclear weapons, which is critical for stockpile stewardship since the halt of underground nuclear testing.

What to watch

Pacific Fusion plans to test the full-scale pulser module by 2030. The company will use data from the Sirius prototype, which completed over 3,000 continuous shots, to refine voltage stability and switch wear. Public Service Company of New Mexico is currently studying how these facilities could integrate with the regional electrical grid.