US fusion start-up Avalanche Energy has announced the launch of its FusionWERX test facility in Richland, Washington. FusionWERX is intended to serve as a first-of-its-kind commercial-scale testing facility for advanced fusion technologies. Access will be offered to private companies, universities, national laboratories, and public-private consortia working to accelerate the path to commercial fusion power.
The FusionWERX facility will incorporate several key systems designed to support a wide range of fusion concepts and applications including:
- High flux fusion neutron sources based on Avalanche’s proprietary Orbitron platform, providing tunable neutron energy environments from high energy 14.1 megaelectron volts (MeV) to thermal neutrons for materials testing and fusion system validation.
- Blanket and shielding test beds that will enable the demonstration of purpose-fit technologies applicable to multiple plasma and fusion device architectures.
- Hot cells designed for remote handling, processing, and analysis of activated materials.
- Integrated tritium management systems capable of extracting, purifying, and recycling tritium for continuous experimental operation.
FusionWERX, which will operate under a broad-scope radioactive materials licence, will have one of the most advanced tritium handling capacities available in the private sector. Avalanche Energy says this licensing framework “positions FusionWERX as a critical enabler for fusion research and development, supply chain advancement, and workforce training within a flexible intellectual property environment”.
Avalanche plans to bring FusionWERX online in phases, with initial construction slated to begin this summer, and is engaging with partners interested in accessing the facility for upcoming fusion programmes and collaborative development projects.
Robin Langtry, Co-Founder & CEO of Avalanche Energy, said FusionWERX will be “the fusion industry’s equivalent of a commercial wind tunnel – an open-access facility where new ideas, technologies, and components can be tested and validated”. He added: “From novel neutron sources to tritium handling systems, FusionWERX will provide the essential test infrastructure our industry will increasingly need to mature technologies and build out the fusion supply chain.”
He noted: “Building FusionWERX in Richland is about more than infrastructure – it’s about creating a collaborative ecosystem where the fusion industry can thrive. “We believe this facility will be a key enabler in accelerating fusion’s transition from the lab to real world energy applications.” He added that potential partners include the Tri-Cities Development Council (TRIDEC), Port of Benton, Washington State, Washington State University (WSU) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) “and we look forward to adding to that list”.
FusionWERX, based in Seattle, is located in the Tri-Cities region – the Energy Hub of Washington and the Pacific Northwest – to leverage the area’s nuclear and scientific expertise, established supply chains, and a highly skilled workforce of over 5,000 energy professionals. The region is home to the PNNL in Richland, a leader in energy technology research with a $1bn federal research budget and 4,200 employees. WSU’s Tri-Cities campus offers a well-regarded nuclear engineering and materials programme. FusionWERX is sited at a facility owned by the Port of Benton, the former location of Kurion’s modular detritiation prototype facility, which was previously licensed for tritium operations.
“Just as the United States chose the Tri-Cities to build the first fission reactor in 1943, we are overjoyed that Avalanche Energy will build the first-of-a-kind FusionWERX commercial-scale testbed in our region,” said Karl Dye, President & CEO of TRIDEC. “Our entire community stands ready to support Avalanche Energy in their vision to create the fusion energy supply, right here in the Tri-Cities.”
Avalanche also announced that it had agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Fusion Fuel Cycles (FFC), a leading provider of fusion fuel cycle technologies. The collaboration will include research, development, demonstration, and commercialisation of technologies critical to the commercial fusion industry. These include neutron sources, tritium breeding blankets, deuterium-tritium (D-T) fuel cycle systems, and integrated test facilities for materials and tritium research.
Avalanche is developing a 1-100kWe compact fusion machine, The Orbitron, which is designed to be small enough to sit on a desk. “The unique physics of the Orbitron allows for its compact size which is a key enabler for rapid development, scaling, and a wide variety of applications… from lunar surface power to transportation and micro-grids.” According to the Avalanche website, the reactor design is capable of fusing fuels like proton-boron-11 which practically eliminates internal neutron radiation, resulting in longer life and lower shielding requirements for a lighter power pack.
“FFC is delighted to be working with Avalanche Energy to support the launch of the FusionWERX facility utilising our unique tritium expertise,” according to a statement from Ian Castillo and Yuhei Nozoe, Co-CEOs of FFC. “We believe this facility will significantly advance science and technology gaps that apply broadly to fusion reactor concepts that need to be tested in a tritiated environment.”
As well as managing the FusionWERX operations, Avalanche intends to incubate a number of neutron-enabled businesses focused on imaging/sensing, radiation effects testing, and fusion materials development. Avalanche will operate its Q>1 deuterium-tritium test programme at the FusionWERX site with the goal of developing the world’s first net-energy compact fusion reactor system.
Avalanche has achieved a number of major technical milestones over the past three years. In 2023, the company achieved a record 200 kV in its fusion device, making it the highest known operating voltage of any fusion device. In 2024, Avalanche published a peer reviewed journal paper on its novel Orbitron fusion plasma confinement scheme and it has continued to advance that technology with the near-term goals of developing efficient, high flux steady state neutron production and fusion rates.
