Fusion: a policy bill, China's hydrogen-boron groundbreak, and a UK industrialization sprint (Sep 14–30)
From the Energy digest for 2026-10-02
- US: bipartisan House bill (Lofgren/Obernolte) proposes $10B for fusion commercialization + research (Sep 30). ITER advanced its tritium-breeding-blanket and plant plans (Sep 25). UK/US: three commercialization partnerships at UK Fusion Week (Sep 16) on top of intergovernmental agreements (Sep 15), and UK STEP announced manufacturing partnerships (Sep 17).
- China: ENN broke ground on Helong-2, its hydrogen-boron spherical-ring platform at Langfang, Hebei (Sep 16) — claiming first hydrogen-boron electricity by 2030 (ledgered), inside a stated aim of commercial fusion utilization by 2050 (Sep 18). Ledgered as both.
- Elsewhere: Japan's Helical Fusion told Reuters it expects preliminary power-on tests at its pilot reactor in 2027 (Sep 29 — ledgered); Germany is converting one of its biggest ex-nuclear plants into a fusion laser lab; Israel's nT-Tao + US Orion signed a 20-MW compact-fusion-for-datacenters tie-up; CFS is securing supply chain for its commercial plant; Singapore's METI is formally exploring fusion.
What's genuinely new: the $10B bill is the largest public-money fusion ask on the U.S. record; ENN's 2030 H-B claim is checkable and exotic (aneutronic path, grid-unproven).
Links: ANS/$10B bill · WNN/Helong-2 · ANS/UK-US · WNN/UK-US · ANS/STEP · ANS/ITER