This month marks a defining moment for California and the future of clean energy. With the signing of Senate Bill 80 (SB80), the state has made a bold commitment to accelerate the development of fusion—the same process that powers the sun—and to lead the nation in meeting America’s growing energy demands.
As energy needs surge, we face a critical challenge: delivering power that is reliable, sustainable, and ensures true energy independence. Fusion offers limitless potential to meet this challenge while driving economic growth and creating high-skill jobs for the future.
California leads the nation in fusion research and development and is home to two world-class facilities: the DIII-D National Fusion Facility in San Diego, operated by General Atomics (GA) for the U.S. Department of Energy—the nation’s only operational fusion tokamak user facility—and the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, supported by the National Nuclear Security Administration, which became the first in the world to repeatedly achieve fusion ignition.
SB80 builds on this legacy by establishing the Fusion Research and Development Innovation Initiative and creating a dedicated fund to accelerate breakthroughs, incentivize commercialization, and cement California’s global leadership in fusion energy. This is more than legislation—it’s a declaration of intent to transform scientific progress into real-world power.
Here in San Diego, we are uniquely positioned to seize this opportunity. Institutions such as UC San Diego, and San Diego State University have advanced fusion research for decades. Recent efforts from the City of San Diego and the San Diego Regional Economic Development Council are further establishing our region as a hub for fusion research, engineering, and manufacturing.
At GA, we are proud to have played an important role in advancing fusion on several fronts, from delivering precision target assemblies that have enabled the National Ignition Facility’s fusion breakthroughs to building the world’s most powerful pulsed superconducting magnet for the ITER experiment in France. More recently, we have collaborated with UC San Diego to launch the San Diego Fusion Data Science and Digital Engineering Center—uniting academia and industry to accelerate innovation through artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
SB80 recognizes the urgency of turning scientific progress into commercial reality. It will draw investment, spark innovation, and bring California and San Diego closer to achieving commercial fusion energy. The nation that realizes fusion first will define the energy future of humankind. Here in San Diego, we’re building that future—together with our collaborators across government, academia, industry, and the national labs.
Media Contact:
Andrew James
Communications Lead
General Atomics Energy Group
andrew.james@ga.com