Nuclear is fusing Republicans and Democrats

An increasing number of Republicans and Democrats are rallying behind a clean energy source — albeit one that is likely decades away.

But it’s unclear if that growing support for nuclear fusion will translate into funding or progress on a technology that’s long been known for “always being 30 years away,” writes Nico Portuondo.

Since its founding in 2021, the Congressional Fusion Caucus has grown from 11 lawmakers to 92. In the coming weeks, senators are also expected to announce their own version of the group.

“I have not had a single conversation with a lawmaker on either side who said, ‘That’s stupid,’ even those from oil patches in Texas,” said caucus founder Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.).

Caucus members have notched a few legislative wins in recent months.

Fusion Caucus co-Chair Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) successfully attached an amendment to a bipartisan nuclear energy package that would ensure fusion projects aren’t regulated like nuclear fission reactors. And fellow co-Chair Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) included language in the House’s fiscal 2024 energy-water spending bill directing the Department of Energy to set a timetable to move its fusion projects from its research office into its commercial development arm.

But House Republicans are proposing only a 2 percent jump in funding for DOE’s Fusion Energy Sciences budget, bringing the program’s total budget to $778 million — well short of the $1 billion target in the CHIPS and Science Act.

It remains to be seen if the Senate version includes a bump at all.

“Simply put, the currently proposed House and Senate appropriations numbers won’t get the job done,” said House Science ranking member and Fusion Caucus member Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.).

Supporters have hoped for decades that fusion — the same process that powers the sun and the hydrogen bomb — could someday provide vast amounts of carbon-free energy, without the risks of current nuclear fission reactors. But that also comes with an important reality check: It’s not going to solve Washington’s quandaries about how to respond to climate change.

Even with additional federal support, experts say it will take several decades for nuclear fusion plants to come online — long after the world needs to make sharp cuts in carbon pollution. And even if fusion can be deployed much sooner, making use of that power would probably still require the U.S. to expand its electricity grid — one of the greatest hurdles in the transition to renewable energy.