The Department of Energy announced six Fusion Innovative Research Engine (FIRE) collaboratives set to receive funding of $107 million on January 16. The six selected teams represent a first round of awards from a funding opportunity announcement released in May 2023 as part of the DOE Office of Fusion Energy Sciences’ (FES) goal of creating a “fusion innovation ecosystem.”

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory are using a stellarator they designed and built using permanent rare-earth magnets and a 3D-printed shell to help test new fusion power concepts. MUSE—the first stellarator built at PPPL in 50 years—took one year to construct and generated its first plasma in February 2023. The work that went into its design has already inspired a stellarator power plant concept being developed by a commercial spin-off, Thea Energy.