DOE Office of Science — Fusion Energy Sciences

Supports fusion research and public private collaboration through milestone based partnerships, shared facilities, and technology hubs.

Fusion Energy Sciences is the DOE Office of Science program office for plasma physics and fusion energy. It is the primary US federal funder in this area, backing both the science base and public-private work aimed at a competitive US fusion industry.

The office covers four science areas: theory, simulation, and artificial intelligence; fusion materials and internal components; sustaining a burning plasma; and closing the fusion cycle. Its portfolio includes INFUSE, the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program, FIRE Collaboratives, and IFE-STAR Hubs, and the FY2025 enacted budget was about $790 million with roughly $200 million for ITER. INFUSE bridges companies and national labs, while the milestone and hub programs give private teams defined partnership routes.

The office rewards teams that can connect frontier plasma science to hardware, pilot plants, or industry-relevant capability, with credible milestones and a public-private partnership model. The roadmap language is deliberate: build the science base, innovate in the engineering layer, then grow toward a US fusion industry.