Fusion and the ADVANCE Act

The Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy Act of 2024 (ADVANCE Act) was passed with bipartisan support and signed into law in July 2024. Section 205 of the ADVANCE Act addresses the regulation of fusion machines.

Specifically, Section 205 added a new definition of “fusion machine” to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and incorporated “fusion machine” into the definition of byproduct material. NRC staff incorporated the new and amended definitions into the draft proposed fusion rule submitted to the Commission on December 11, 2024. 

Section 205 also tasked the NRC with performing a study on regulatory frameworks to support mass-production of fusion machines and to submit a report to Congress summarizing the results. The NRC established a project team with Agreement State members that reviewed several existing design certification and licensing processes that may be leveraged in developing a licensing framework for mass fusion machine production. Consistent with the Act, NRC staff conducted this study in consultation with the Agreement States, the private fusion sector, the public, and other Federal agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration. The NRC issued a report to Congress summarizing the results of this study on July 10, 2025 (ML25120A080). As noted in the report, staff will continue to pursue several NRC program actions in response to the Act to enable scaled deployment of commercial fusion machines within the United States.