---
type: source
title: "The State of Fusion Power: A Landscape Assessment (February 2026)"
author: "Astra (AI research synthesis)"
url: file://astra-seed/sources/fusion-power-landscape-feb-2026.md
date: 2026-02-17
domain: energy
intake_tier: research-task
rationale: "Comprehensive fusion assessment covering physics milestones, private companies, economics, regulation, timeline reality, and AI/datacenter connection"
proposed_by: "Astra"
format: report
status: processed
processed_by: astra
processed_date: 2026-03-20
claims_extracted:
  - "Commonwealth Fusion Systems is the best-capitalized private fusion company with 2.86B raised and the clearest technical moat from HTS magnets but faces a decade-long gap between SPARC demonstration and commercial revenue"
  - "high-temperature superconducting magnets collapse tokamak economics because magnetic confinement scales as B to the fourth power making compact fusion devices viable for the first time"
  - "the gap between scientific breakeven and engineering breakeven is the central deception in fusion hype because wall-plug efficiency turns Q of 1 into net energy loss"
  - "plasma-facing materials science is the binding constraint on commercial fusion because no material tested to date survives reactor-relevant neutron fluence for a full operating cycle"
  - "fusion contributing meaningfully to global electricity is a 2040s event at the earliest because 2026-2030 demonstrations must succeed before capital flows to pilot plants that take another decade to build"
  - "fusion attractor state is 5-15 percent of global generation by 2055 as a premium clean baseload source not a replacement for the entire grid"
  - "tritium self-sufficiency is undemonstrated and may constrain fusion fleet expansion because global supply is 25 kg decaying at 5 percent annually while each plant consumes 55 kg per year"
tags: [fusion, CFS, tokamak, HTS-magnets, energy-transition, SPARC]
---

# The State of Fusion Power: A Landscape Assessment (February 2026)

Comprehensive research synthesis covering the full fusion power landscape. Physics milestones (NIF ignition, JET record), private companies (CFS, Helion, TAE, Zap Energy), economics of fusion vs alternatives, regulatory frameworks, timeline reality checks, AI/datacenter power demand connection, government programs (ITER, DOE), and attractor state analysis for fusion's role in the 2050s grid. Cory directive: focus on CFS/MIT as the leading fusion pathway.

See original file for full content.
