US Awards $85 Million to Build Chips for Fusion Power Plants

The U.S. government will provide $85 million to Commonwealth Fusion Systems to manufacture advanced semiconductors for fusion power plants. The Department of Commerce issued the funding through a CHIPS Act award announced on Thursday. Commonwealth Fusion Systems, or CFS, said the money will support research and development and expand domestic manufacturing of chips. The agreement also gives the government a stake in CFS.

The award is directed toward five initiatives. The first project advances silicon carbide power electronics. These semiconductors manage high voltages and are found in LEDs, electric vehicles, cell phone base stations, and data centers. Fusion machines also use them to manage the electrical bursts that drive superconducting magnets. These magnets confine plasma inside a reactor.

Another project develops next-generation radio-frequency power generators. The company uses these generators to heat fusion fuel. A third project focuses on electronics designed to control reactors faster and withstand radiation. CFS said radiation-hardened electronics could extend the lifespan of components inside a fusion power plant, reducing operating costs.

The final initiative adapts AI hardware, including GPUs and TPUs, for use in power plants. Brandon Sorbom, co-founder and chief science officer at CFS, described the funding as a way to improve the U.S. chip and power electronics industries while accelerating fusion energy's progress toward the electrical grid.

The award arrives as fusion startups race to finish their first demonstration machines. CFS aims to switch on its Sparc reactor sometime next year. A single reactor serves mainly as a proof point. Companies planning to build dozens of commercial fusion plants will need durable power electronics and a dependable supply chain.

Sorbom wrote that the funding would result in a more capable, economical power plant and a stronger U.S. supply chain to build it.