Test facility for full-scale fusion power-plant blankets set to be developed in US

A San Diego-based company is set to develop design concepts for a facility dedicated to testing full-scale fusion power-plant “blankets”. For this, General Atomics is collaborating with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

The company revealed that the new Fusion Blanket Component Test Facility (BCTF) would enable scientists and engineers to evaluate integrated fusion blanket systems.

Testing would address a major engineering challenge

General Atomics revealed that these systems use specialized lithium-based materials—solid, liquid, or salt—that line the inside of a fusion vessel to capture energy and produce the tritium needed to sustain fusion reactions. Successful testing would address a major scientific and engineering challenge on the path to realizing the world’s first commercial fusion power plant.

The public-private partnership was initiated by a seed investment from the U.S. Department of Energy, provided to INL to launch preconceptual design and lay the groundwork for establishing key collaborations. In addition to GA, the collaboration will include Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Kyoto Fusioneering, the University of California San Diego, and other key collaborators across industry and academia, according to a press release.

The plan is to develop a design that would leverage GA’s established Magnet Technologies Center, the former site where the ITER Central Solenoid, the world’s most powerful pulsed superconducting magnet, was completed last year. If the project proceeds to full construction, the existing infrastructure provides the advanced equipment and expertise needed to move the project on a faster timeline, as per the release.

Blanket Test Facility

Engineers would use the facility to confirm that circulating blanket fluids can effectively remove heat, withstand mechanical stress, and safely extract fuel at power plant levels—critical steps needed before advancing to more complex neutron and tritium testing.

“The Blanket Test Facility would give the fusion community the speed and scale needed to de-risk next-generation blanket designs,” said Dr. Brian Grierson, director of Fusion Energy Technologies at General Atomics.

“It’s where innovation meets practicality, and where we transform theory into real-world systems.”

Fusion is the same process that powers the sun. Instead of splitting atoms as in traditional nuclear power, fusion fuses light atomic nuclei to release massive amounts of energy, without long-lived radioactive waste. Researchers believe fusion could provide virtually limitless, carbon-free electricity to meet the growing global energy demand.

The project also reinforces San Diego’s growing status as a center for fusion research and development. General Atomics already operates the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, one of the leading magnetic-fusion research centers in the United States. The region is also home to significant academic programs, digital engineering initiatives, and an expanding network of fusion-focused companies and institutions.

Recent policy developments have further strengthened California’s position in the emerging fusion sector. State initiatives aimed at supporting fusion research and commercialization have encouraged investment and collaboration, helping establish an ecosystem designed to accelerate technological breakthroughs.