Fusion energy companies are actively working to rebrand the technology, moving away from the term "nuclear" due to public association with nuclear fission's risks and waste. This effort extends to regulatory bodies, with significant progress made in the US and UK to regulate fusion separately from fission, under less stringent frameworks. In April, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission decided to regulate fusion under the same regime as particle accelerators, rather than the more onerous one for fission reactors. Similarly, the UK advised in June 2022 that its future fusion facilities would be overseen by the Environment Agency and Health and Safety Executive, completely outside the nuclear regulator. These regulatory distinctions are crucial for speeding up development and reducing the cost and complexity of building prototype fusion devices and future power plants.
This push for differentiation stems from the inherent differences between fusion and fission. Fusion, which powers the sun, involves fusing hydrogen isotopes to release vast amounts of energy, producing no long-lived radioactive waste and posing no risk of a nuclear accident like Chernobyl. In contrast, fission splits uranium atoms, generating radioactive waste. Legal experts like Jeffrey Merrifield at Pillsbury and Amy Roma at Hogan Lovells have lobbied for this regulatory separation, emphasizing that fusion does not carry the same risks or complications as fission-based reactors. This allows fusion companies to rapidly iterate prototypes, a luxury not afforded to fission due to expensive licensing requirements.
Companies like Commonwealth Fusion Systems, backed by Bill Gates, and Helion Energy, supported by Sam Altman, are among the more than 40 firms globally developing fusion technologies. These companies have collectively raised almost $9 billion in private investment, with an additional $795 million in public funding. Despite regulatory progress and significant investment, commercial fusion power is still years away from supplying electricity to the grid, with many companies aiming for demonstration plants in the 2030s and widespread deployment in the 2040s. The long-term goal is to make fusion a key part of addressing increasing global energy demands and combating climate change.
