US fusion startup Pacific Fusion broke ground on August 25, 2026, on a $1 billion research and manufacturing campus in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The centerpiece, called the "Demonstration System," is designed to demonstrate net energy gain across the entire facility by 2030 and generate fusion output exceeding 100 megajoules in a single pulse, according to the company. However, 100 megajoules represents a future experimental target, not electricity to be sold to the grid. What began construction is not a power plant, but a large-scale experimental facility serving two purposes: fusion energy and national security.
100 Megajoules and "Facility Gain" Are Different Measures
Pacific Fusion's two stated goals do not refer to the same achievement criteria. Exceeding 100 megajoules refers to the magnitude of fusion output obtained from a single pulse (shot). "Net facility gain," on the other hand, is a ratio measuring whether fusion output exceeds the total energy stored in the device before firing. Even with large output, if the device stores more energy than that to operate, facility gain is not achieved.
This distinction becomes clearer when compared to the "ignition" achieved by the US Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF) on December 5, 2022. NIF delivered 2.05 megajoules of laser energy to a target and obtained 3.15 megajoules of fusion energy. This was the first demonstration of "scientific gain," where output exceeded the input delivered to the fuel, but it was not compared against the energy consumed by the entire facility, including the laser equipment.
Pacific Fusion states it will demonstrate facility gain by 2030, expanding the denominator to include energy stored in the power source. Even so, this falls short of "power gain"—net electricity generation. This is because losses also occur when converting heat generated by fusion into electricity. The company states that assuming typical heat engine efficiency of 30-40%, net power generation would require raising facility gain to approximately 3-4.
Therefore, even if facility gain is achieved in 2030, this does not directly lead to commercial power generation. Equipment to recover reaction heat, systems to convert it to electricity, and operational systems to repeatedly supply fuel must be combined, and net electricity output and generation costs must be separately demonstrated. The building now under construction is where this preliminary stage will be tested.
Testing One Full-Scale Pulser Before Bundling 156 Units
The Demonstration System operates on different principles than massive laser arrays or tokamak-style magnetic confinement devices. It stores electricity drawn from an outlet, then releases it in a short burst from approximately 156 identical pulser modules. This is pulser-driven inertial fusion, concentrating approximately 60 megaamperes of current onto a target and using its magnetic pressure to rapidly compress fuel. The design standardizes modules and manufactures them from generally procurable materials, aiming to reduce the construction costs and maintenance burden typically associated with large, custom-built fusion devices.
The core technology for delivering power in a single burst is the impedance-matched Marx generator (IMG). Conventional pulsed power sources often compress pulses in multiple stages. In contrast, IMG synchronizes electromagnetic waves generated from charged capacitors along a single transmission line, delivering the necessary high-speed pulse to the load in a single stage. The design advantage lies in being able to scale the same circuit horizontally while minimizing component count and energy loss.
SIRIUS, a small-scale unit tested at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, completed over 3,000 full-power shots. The four-stage prototype delivered 60 gigawatts to a resistive load in 100 nanoseconds, recording 95% energy efficiency. Switch and capacitor failure rates also fell within specified requirements, and the laboratory states this data supports advancing technology readiness from TRL 4 to TRL 5.
However, the 95% figure represents SIRIUS's efficiency in delivering electricity to a resistive load—not the efficiency of an entire device that has produced a fusion reaction. While the 3,000 repetitions increased confidence in component lifespan, they did not demonstrate synchronization control across 156 units, nor whether fuel targets can be compressed as intended.
The full-scale pulser module Pacific Fusion will next complete must be approximately 40 times the scale of SIRIUS and stably deliver peak output exceeding 1 terawatt. Only after demonstrating this single unit will manufacturing the remaining approximately 155 units and progressing from scientific gain to facility gain become a real construction challenge.
Ahead of Power Generation: A Testbed for Nuclear Stockpile Stewardship
The design target of exceeding 100 megajoules serves purposes distinct from power generation research. The neutrons, X-rays, gamma rays, and ultra-high-pressure states produced by large fusion reactions can be used to study how matter and radiation behave under extreme conditions. This constitutes high-energy-density experimentation necessary for "science-based stockpile stewardship," through which the United States assesses the safety and reliability of its nuclear stockpile without conducting explosive underground nuclear tests.
On the same day as groundbreaking, August 25, the US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Pacific Fusion signed a memorandum of understanding to explore collaboration opportunities in high-yield fusion and high-energy-density science. NNSA treats the Demonstration System as a facility usable for both inertial fusion experiments and national security research. This allows a private company to combine government research utilization opportunities with large-scale experimental equipment that would otherwise be difficult to recoup through energy development alone.
However, the memorandum is not a funding agreement. NNSA explicitly states that specific joint research and funding allocation require separate agreements. Whether the facility can achieve output exceeding 100 megajoules, which experiments the government will entrust to it, and who bears the costs must each be confirmed separately.
The $1 Billion Plan and the Reality of Public Support
The Mesa del Sol campus spans approximately 225,000 square feet. Pacific Fusion expects to create about 200 permanent jobs, plus several hundred more through construction and the local supply chain. The company is also expanding manufacturing operations in nearby Los Lunas, where it will produce modular components for fusion systems. This represents a division of labor: research and demonstration in Albuquerque, component manufacturing in Los Lunas.
Of the $1 billion investment, $776.6 million comes from taxable industrial revenue bonds approved by the City of Albuquerque. However, this does not mean the city disburses an equivalent amount to Pacific Fusion. The company purchases and repays the bonds itself, and the city bears no financial liability. This bond issuance mechanism, routed through the municipality, grants the company property tax and gross receipts tax incentives.
Direct public support approved through the Local Economic Development Act (LEDA) totals up to $10 million, broken down as $9 million from the state and $1 million from the city. While limited relative to the facility's scale and employment figures, this funding is tied to construction and employment milestones. The $1 billion in private investment, the tax-advantaged industrial revenue bonds, and the $10 million in public funds must be viewed as distinct components.
The groundbreaking signals that the concept has moved into a project involving land and buildings. However, technical risk does not diminish merely through construction progress. Can a single full-scale pulser module reproduce output exceeding 1 terawatt? Can a device synchronizing 156 units first surpass scientific gain, then demonstrate facility gain? The credibility of the 2030 deadline should be measured in this sequence.