• A new U.S. regulatory framework for fusion machines is set to establish a clear, predictable regulatory pathway that will likely accelerate licensing.

July 22 - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in February proposed a new framework to regulate fusion machines under the Byproduct Material Framework, underscoring the lower safety risks of fusion devices.

The new rules come after fusion developers complained that stiff regulations were holding up the industry because their devices have long been regulated as if they were fission reactors, even though they do not pose meltdown risks and do not generate long-lived nuclear waste.

Instead of requiring exhaustive safety analysis to assess the risks of ‌fusion devices, the proposed regulatory framework focuses on the radioactive materials used by these machines, like tritium, as well as waste management, decommissioning, and radiation protection.

Under the new rules, “licensing happens on the scale of months to a year rather than the years or even a decade a fission reactor can face, because the focus is on safely controlling the material, not reviewing a reactor design,” said Andrew Proffitt, Senior Director of Regulatory Policy at fusion developer Helion Energy.

"The industry supports this rule making. It reflects years of work between regulators, developers, and the public, and it provides the certainty companies and investors need to bring commercial fusion online,” Proffitt told Reuters Events.

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Unlike existing nuclear facilities that rely on fission—the splitting of heavy atoms like uranium—fusion companies are developing first-of-a-kind devices to fuse light atoms together. This is the same reaction that powers the sun, and while it promises virtually ⁠limitless, carbon-free energy, it has never been achieved on a commercial scale.

The regulatory update comes as fusion developers are enjoying a boom in investments that have paved the way for several technological breakthroughs in recent months. Established players including Helion Energy, TAE Technologies, Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), and Type One Energy have already started building advanced prototypes.

CHART: Total global fusion industry funding

* Annual totals in brackets. Source: Fusion Industry Association (FIA), 2026. Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

The proposed framework “acknowledges that fission and fusion are different beasts,” said Robb Hughes, Head of External Affairs at Realta Fusion.

“Fission reactors pose a risk of meltdown and create long-lived radioactive materials, so fission simply needs more stringent regulation than fusion, for which those same hazards do not exist,” Hughes told Reuters Events.

The new rules come amid a flurry of activity under President Trump aimed at fostering a U.S. “nuclear renaissance.” This includes new NRC policies to expedite the approval of small modular reactor (SMR) designs, streamline environmental reviews, and modernize radiation safety standards.

“Fusion has the benefit of an advantageous safety profile compared with fission, creating an opportunity for a lighter regulatory burden and an addressable market for fusion that we believe could eclipse the SMR market,” a spokesperson for General Fusion told Reuters Events.

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The rules align with the ADVANCE Act of 2024, which establishes that fusion machines should be regulated as ‌particle accelerators ⁠rather than traditional nuclear reactors.

The rules do not guarantee faster deployment, but they give “developers something they did not have before: a clear licensing framework,” said Spencer Toohill, Chief of Staff for Nuclear Energy Innovation at The Breakthrough Institute

The new fusion framework is designed to be flexible, allowing developers to “manage design-specific hazards without repeatedly asking the regulator for permission to depart from prescriptive requirements that may not fit their technology,” Toohill told Reuters Events.

Whereas fission developers are often required to seek amendments during the lifecycle of their assets, the “more permissive, materials-oriented framework for fusion reduces the need to ask for so many license amendments,” she said.

While the NRC is legally mandated to finalize commercial fusion regulations by December 31, 2027, the agency and the Fusion Industry Association (FIA) aim to finalize and adopt ⁠the rules by October 2026.

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State licensing

Under the new framework, state regulators will hold primary responsibility for licensing and overseeing most commercial fusion facilities.

The Organization of Agreement States (OAS)—a longstanding coalition of 40 U.S. states that have signed formal agreements with the NRC—will coordinate the implementation of the new rules.

Under the umbrella of OAS, member states will “engage, communicate, exchange best practices” to ensure that the new regulatory framework is applied in a consistent way across state lines, Jeff ⁠Merrifield, the leader of Pillsbury Law’s Nuclear Energy Team, told Reuters Events earlier this year.

Nonetheless, Toohill said she expects some degree of “variation in implementation from state to state,” especially for early demonstrations.

MAP: US fusion companies by primary HQ

Source: Fusion Industry Association (FIA), 2026 Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

Helion has secured regulatory approvals from the Washington State Department of Health, including a Radioactive Materials License (RML) and a Radioactive Air Emissions License (RAEL) for its Orion facility in Malaga, Washington, the company said on June 16.

“After ⁠years of experience working with Washington state regulators on earlier prototypes, Helion is the first company in the world to have the regulatory permits and licenses in place for a fusion power plant,” Proffitt said.

Other fusion developers, including CFS in Massachusetts, TAE Technologies in California, and Type One Energy in Tennessee are similarly working with their state regulators to secure licenses.

“These are the first of their kind applications that we’re going to see over the next few months or year, and they are going to pave the way and set the pace for other states to follow suit,” Merrifield, who also works as outside counsel for FIA, said.

--Editing by Eduardo Garcia

Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. Reuters Events, a part of Reuters Professional, is owned by Thomson Reuters and operates independently of Reuters News.

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](https://www.reuters.com/authors/mark-shenk/)

Mark is an energy reporter for Reuters Events, part of Reuters Professional. Based in New York, Mark has two decades of experience in commodities, writing about energy policy, markets, history and consumer impact. His articles have featured in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Houston Chronicle and Bloomberg Markets, among other publications.