Retrospective on the Design and Implementation of the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program of the U.S. Department of Energy
Abstract
This paper provides a detailed account of the origins, objectives, design, and implementation of the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program, a public-private-partnership (PPP) program launched by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science in September 2022. The purpose of this program is multi-faceted, with policy, scientific and technological (S&T), and commercialization objectives. Tactically, the program supports privately funded fusion companies in closing S&T gaps toward delivering preliminary engineering designs of their demonstration fusion plants (aka "fusion pilot plants"). The program is a key element of a shift in U.S. fusion strategy, initiated in 2022, to accelerate fusion commercialization by leveraging PPPs. The design of the Milestone Program was underpinned by its authorizing legislation and the U.S. National Academies report Bringing Fusion to the U.S. Grid (2021), and drew inspiration from other PPP programs discussed in this paper. Finally, the paper provides the authors' perspectives and reflections on the strengths/weaknesses of the program as implemented, implementation barriers, and lessons learned, with the intent to inform future PPP programs in fusion and other energy/technology disciplines.
Related
- Milestone in predicting core plasma turbulence: successful multi-channel validation of the gyrokinetic code GENE
- Evidence-based design of a patient-specific quality assurance program through retrospective analysis of pretreatment and in vivo results.
- Development and experimental implementation of noise characterisation techniques on a superconducting quantum processor
- Automated Radiotherapy Planning for Head-and-neck Cancer: Multi-institutional Development, Validation, and Clinical Implementation of Monaco Scripting
- XShooter DESI Lens Program: Sample characterization
BibTeX
@misc{hsu2026retrospective,
title = {{Retrospective on the Design and Implementation of the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program of the U.S. Department of Energy}},
author = {Scott C. Hsu and Samuel E. Wurzel and Narayan S. Subramanian},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.28398},
eprint = {2609.28398},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.28398},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Retrospective on the Design and Implementation of the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program of the U.S. Department of Energy
AU - Scott C. Hsu
AU - Samuel E. Wurzel
AU - Narayan S. Subramanian
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/23
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.28398
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.28398
AB - This paper provides a detailed account of the origins, objectives, design, and implementation of the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program, a public-private-partnership (PPP) program launched by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science in September 2022. The purpose of this program is multi-faceted, with policy, scientific and technological (S&T), and commercialization objectives. Tactically, the program supports privately funded fusion companies in closing S&T gaps toward delivering preliminary engineering designs of their demonstration fusion plants (aka "fusion pilot plants"). The program is a key element of a shift in U.S. fusion strategy, initiated in 2022, to accelerate fusion commercialization by leveraging PPPs. The design of the Milestone Program was underpinned by its authorizing legislation and the U.S. National Academies report Bringing Fusion to the U.S. Grid (2021), and drew inspiration from other PPP programs discussed in this paper. Finally, the paper provides the authors' perspectives and reflections on the strengths/weaknesses of the program as implemented, implementation barriers, and lessons learned, with the intent to inform future PPP programs in fusion and other energy/technology disciplines.
ER -