Leading fusion energy innovation from insight to ignition
As energy-hungry data centers pop up all across Wisconsin and the nation, fusion startups, including one in partnership with UW-Madison, are working to bring a new energy source to market to meet the colossal need.
Progress toward unleashing clean power from nuclear fusion was recently reported by Chinese scientists, who broke through a theoretical ceiling on how many atoms can “fuse” inside a superconducting reactor and efficiently release energy.
Recent breakthroughs at U.S. fusion labs, along with new public-private partnerships, are bringing us closer than ever to realizing fusion energy’s limitless potential.
Fusion research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison is bridging industry knowledge gaps to make limitless clean energy a reality.
For decades, fusion energy was often seen as a concept from science fiction—a promise that seemed forever on the horizon. Today, that promise is finally within reach.
The world is closer than ever to limitless clean energy thanks to recent advancements in nuclear fusion — and Wisconsin companies Realta Fusion and SHINE Technologies are at the forefront, positioning the state and region for explosive economic growth.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is leading a major multi-institution project to develop and test a critical fusion technology—research that will directly benefit commercial fusion power plant developers.
In conjunction with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, scientists at startup Realta Fusion published two papers outlining the viability of the magnetic mirror design for nuclear fusion devices, making it competitive with more highly-researched designs.
On July 2, 2025, Wisconsin passed legislation calling for a nuclear power siting study to identify opportunities for fission and fusion energy generation in the state.
New research by Realta Fusion's computational physics team predicts high energy gain and paves the way to solving plasma instabilities long associated with magnetic mirrors.