China and the United States are engaged in an increasingly intense race to achieve practical nuclear fusion, a technology often described as the “holy grail” of clean energy. Both countries see fusion as a strategic asset that could deliver virtually limitless, low‑carbon power and reshape global energy markets. In the U.S., a mix of government labs, private startups, and university projects is pursuing different designs, from magnetic confinement to laser‑driven ignition. China, meanwhile, is rapidly expanding its state‑backed fusion programs, building and upgrading experimental reactors while integrating fusion into its long‑term energy and industrial plans. This emerging competition is not only about scientific prestige, but also about who will set the standards, control the supply chains, and reap the economic and geopolitical benefits of commercial fusion first.
China’s Fusion Breakthrough Exposes America’s Strategic Shortsightedness
While Beijing maintains 17-minute plasma record, ITER delays push US fusion goals to 2039—and Congress cuts funding
On January 20, 2025, China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) maintained stable fusion plasma for 1,066 seconds—nearly 18 minutes at temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius. This wasn’t net energy gain, but it was something arguably more important: proof that sustained fusion operation is achievable with current technology. Meanwhile, America’s primary fusion project, ITER, just announced it won’t be operational until 2039—14 years behind schedule and $10.4 billion over budget. The gap between China’s progress and America’s delays should terrify anyone concerned about long-term energy security.
What China Actually Achieved—and Why It Matters
Let’s be clear about what EAST did and didn’t accomplish. China did not achieve net energy gain—the “holy grail” where fusion produces more energy than consumed. No magnetic confinement reactor has done that yet. The US National Ignition Facility briefly achieved ignition in 2022 using a completely different method (inertial confinement), but that was a momentary burst, not sustained operation.
What EAST demonstrated is arguably more practically significant: the ability to maintain stable, high-confinement plasma for extended periods using the same technology that future commercial reactors will need. Nuclear fusion works by smashing hydrogen atoms together so forcefully they fuse into helium, releasing enormous energy—the same process powering the sun. The challenge has always been containing plasma at 100-million-degree temperatures long enough for sustained reactions.
EAST’s 1,066-second record (doubling its previous 403-second record from 2023) proves that tokamak reactors can maintain the conditions necessary for commercial fusion power generation. As Song Yuntao, director of China’s Institute of Plasma Physics, stated: “A fusion device must achieve stable operation at high efficiency for thousands of seconds to enable the self-sustaining circulation of plasma, which is critical for the continuous power generation of future fusion plants.”
The ITER Disaster: A Case Study in Western Decline
The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) was supposed to be humanity’s great leap toward fusion energy. An international collaboration involving the US, EU, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, and India, ITER represents the best scientific minds working together on civilization’s most important energy challenge.
Or at least, that was the plan. Initial projections in 2005 suggested ITER would be completed by 2016 with first experiments in 2020, at a total cost of $10 billion. In 2016, the timeline extended to 2025 with full operation by 2035, adding $5.2 billion to costs. In July 2024, ITER announced it wouldn’t be fully operational until 2039—an additional 14 years—and would cost another $5.2 billion.
Let that sink in: A project initially scheduled for 2016 completion won’t be finished until 2039. The reactor that was supposed to cost $10 billion will actually cost over $20 billion. Children born when ITER was approved will be in their mid-30s before it produces its first sustained plasma.
China’s Strategic Approach: Iterate, Learn, Build
While ITER flounders in cost overruns and schedule delays, China has been methodically building fusion capability through a different strategy: build operational reactors, learn from them, and iterate quickly.
EAST began operations in 2006—the same year China joined the ITER program. For nearly two decades, Chinese scientists have been running experiments, encountering problems, solving them, and pushing forward. The 2025 record didn’t happen by accident—it resulted from systematic upgrades including doubling the heating system’s power output while maintaining stability.
China isn’t stopping with EAST. They’re building multiple fusion facilities:
- BEST (Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak) – Next-generation facility currently under construction
- CFETR (China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor) – Demonstration power plant expected to begin construction by late 2020s
- HL-3 tokamak – Recently reached 100 million °C using spherical confinement
- Shenguang-IV laser facility – Inertial confinement fusion scaled beyond US capabilities
This is what a serious national commitment to fusion energy looks like. China treats fusion as strategic infrastructure—like high-speed rail or 5G networks—requiring sustained investment and coordinated development. America treats it as a research project subject to annual congressional budget battles.
The Funding Gap: Congress’s Failure of Vision
The 2024 fiscal year tells the story clearly: The Biden administration requested approximately $1 billion for fusion energy sciences. The House proposed $778 million—falling well short even as Republicans claimed to support fusion. The Senate wasn’t expected to propose much more, adhering to strict spending limits.
This represents the consistent pattern: political rhetoric supporting fusion energy, followed by inadequate funding that prevents meaningful progress. The Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program—designed to accelerate private fusion ventures—received just $46 million in initial awards to eight recipients. For comparison, the US spends roughly $800 billion annually on defense, yet cannot find $1 billion for the technology that could end energy scarcity forever.
ITER continues to face delays and its new startup date is in 2039, four years later than we hoped. We need to get a better understanding of why that is, and how we can get things back on track.
The answer to Manchin’s question is obvious: ITER is delayed because massive international collaborations involving seven partners are inherently slow and bureaucratic. China’s approach—building their own facilities under centralized direction—allows for faster iteration and decision-making.
The Geopolitical Stakes: More Than Just Energy
Fusion energy isn’t just about electricity generation. The nation that achieves commercial fusion first gains multiple strategic advantages:
Energy Independence: Fusion uses deuterium (extracted from seawater) and tritium (bred from lithium). No nation needs to import fusion fuel from geopolitical rivals. The country that controls fusion technology controls its own energy destiny completely.
Climate Leadership: Fusion provides unlimited clean baseload power without the intermittency problems of wind and solar. The nation that commercializes fusion sets the global standard for decarbonization and can export that technology worldwide.
Industrial Dominance: Advanced manufacturing, AI data centers, desalination, transportation electrification—all these require massive amounts of reliable electricity. Fusion makes electricity effectively free at scale. The nation with fusion energy first gains overwhelming industrial advantage.
Military Applications: Beyond obvious applications like powering directed energy weapons or electromagnetic railguns, fusion enables capabilities we can barely imagine—from plasma-based propulsion for spacecraft to portable power sources for forward operating bases.
The Private Sector: America’s Best Hope
There is one bright spot in America’s fusion landscape: private companies. The 2024 Fusion Industry Association survey found that private fusion companies have raised over $7.1 billion, with $900 million raised in 2024 alone. Companies like Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), TAE Technologies, and numerous startups are pursuing diverse approaches—compact tokamaks, field-reversed configurations, aneutronic fusion.
CFS, for instance, aims to begin operations at their SPARC reactor in 2026, hoping to achieve breakeven by 2027. They’ve announced plans for a grid-scale fusion plant in Virginia producing 400 MW, targeting early 2030s operation. If successful, CFS would beat ITER by nearly a decade—using private funding and entrepreneurial speed to leapfrog the international bureaucratic behemoth.
But private companies face a fundamental problem: they’re competing against a nation-state with unlimited resources and strategic patience. China can afford to fund multiple parallel approaches, accept failures, and maintain investment through setbacks. American venture capitalists need returns within reasonable timeframes.
What America Must Do—Starting Yesterday
The fusion race is winnable, but not with current half-measures. America needs a comprehensive national fusion strategy comparable to the Manhattan Project or Apollo Program:
Massively Increase Funding: Congress should immediately authorize $10 billion annually for fusion energy—0.1% of federal spending. This would fund both ITER participation and domestic programs, including the Milestone-Based Development Program at meaningful scale. For comparison, the US spent roughly 4% of GDP on Apollo at its peak. Fusion deserves similar priority.
Build American Testbeds: Don’t rely solely on ITER. Construct multiple mid-scale tokamaks in the US for rapid experimentation—similar to what China is doing with EAST and BEST. Learn from failures quickly rather than waiting decades for ITER.
Coordinate Public-Private Partnership: The government should fund foundational research and large-scale facilities while supporting private companies pursuing commercial applications. Create clear pathways for technology transfer between national labs and private ventures.
Workforce Development: Launch massive education initiatives to train fusion engineers, plasma physicists, and specialized technicians. China has spent decades building this expertise—America needs to catch up immediately.
Supply Chain Development: Fusion requires hundreds of specialized components. Incentivize domestic manufacturing of superconducting magnets, high-temperature materials, precision diagnostics, and advanced tritium breeding systems.
Realistic Timelines: Stop pretending ITER will save us. Even if ITER operates perfectly starting 2039, that’s 14 years away. America needs domestic fusion capability operational by 2035 at latest—which means aggressive action starting now.
The Uncomfortable Truth About American Decline
EAST’s 17-minute plasma record isn’t just a scientific achievement—it’s a symptom of deeper strategic divergence between American short-termism and Chinese long-term planning.
China can maintain consistent fusion investment across decades because their political system prioritizes multi-generational infrastructure projects. America struggles to maintain fusion funding across annual budget cycles because fusion doesn’t provide immediate electoral benefits.
China can build EAST, BEST, CFETR, and Shenguang-IV simultaneously because fusion is treated as strategic imperative. America debates whether fusion deserves $778 million or $1 billion while spending hundreds of billions on weapons systems designed for yesterday’s wars.
China celebrates scientists maintaining 1,066-second plasma records. America barely notices—until decades later when we wonder why Chinese companies dominate fusion technology exports.
Fusion energy represents humanity’s best solution to the energy and climate crises simultaneously. It provides unlimited clean baseload power without geopolitical vulnerability to fossil fuel suppliers. The nation that commercializes fusion first doesn’t just win an energy race—it fundamentally reshapes global power dynamics for the next century.
China understands this. Their systematic approach to fusion—building multiple facilities, maintaining consistent funding, training specialized workforces—reflects strategic thinking about 2050, not 2026.
America seems determined to repeat every mistake from previous technology competitions. We pioneered nuclear energy, then let France build superior nuclear industries. We invented solar panels, then watched China dominate manufacturing. We developed semiconductor technology, then outsourced production to Taiwan. Now we’re on track to invent fusion energy principles while China builds the reactors.
The fusion race is still competitive. American private companies show remarkable innovation. Our scientific expertise remains world-class. But expertise without resources accomplishes nothing. Innovation without sustained investment leads nowhere.
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