Pacific Fusion Invites External Users to New Mexico Pulsed-Power Inertial Fusion Facility

Pacific Fusion announced it will build a pulsed‑power inertial fusion demonstration facility in New Mexico and has opened a Pacific Fusion Users Program inviting expressions of interest from external researchers in industry, academia, and government. The company says the planned demonstration system is expected to deliver 10 megajoules to a high‑energy‑density target, and the Users Program EOI window closes at 11:59 PM Pacific Time on March 31, 2026.

The company’s public timeline lays out a 2027 call for detailed proposals and predicts external‑user experiments beginning in 2029, with a target of achieving net facility gain by 2030. Pacific Fusion has framed that goal as producing more fusion energy than the total energy stored in the system and says the New Mexico demonstration will support fusion energy, commercial applications, fundamental HED science, and national security as part of a flexible experimental architecture.

Pacific Fusion was founded in 2023 and lists headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area, specifically Fremont, Calif., with operations in New Mexico. The start‑up positions its approach as pulser‑driven inertial confinement fusion that translates 2022 national‑lab ICF advances into a pulsed‑power commercial path. Morningstar and Business Wire materials list a media contact as Alex Doniach, with the email alex.doniach@pacificfusion.com.

Technical validation for Pacific Fusion’s approach comes from a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with Sandia National Laboratories. Pacific Fusion reported four experiments at Sandia’s Z Pulsed Power Facility conducted at roughly 22 million amps, using simplified aluminum and plastic targets intended to inform pulser‑driven ICF target designs and potentially remove the need for external magnetic coils. Those measurements also feed validation of simulation tools Pacific Fusion developed with the Flash Centre at the University of Rochester. Greg Rochau, director of Sandia’s Pulsed Power Sciences, said, “These experiments are a good example of collaboration between the national labs and industry for research that is a dual benefit for Pacific Fusion and Sandia.”

Pacific Fusion has also stated an ongoing collaboration with General Atomics, and it explicitly cites work with the University of Rochester Flash Centre in its modelling and design process. The company describes its demonstration system as aiming to be the highest‑yield, highest‑gain inertial fusion facility globally by the end of the decade, and ANS coverage noted the company predicts a “1,000‑fold leap” in performance by 2030; those are company forecasts in the public materials.

On access and funding, ANS reported, “At this stage, there is no funding structure in place for potential users.” Pacific Fusion representative Keith LeChien said the company will examine resource models over the coming years and expects there to be pathways for researchers to obtain funding to conduct experiments at the facility, such as through the Department of Energy.

Practical submission details for researchers: Pacific Fusion is soliciting Expressions of Interest now, with the stated deadline of March 31, 2026 at 11:59 PM PT. Media collateral accompanying the announcement includes concept art of the demonstration system. Pacific Fusion’s schedule—EOIs due in 2026, proposal calls in 2027, experiments in 2029, and a net‑facility‑gain target in 2030—frames an aggressive push to move pulsed‑power ICF from lab validation toward an externally accessible demonstration facility.