S 3437

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IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

December 11, 2025

Mr. Padilla (for himself and Mr. Cornyn) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To amend the Department of Energy Organization Act to reestablish an office relating to fusion.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Office of Fusion Act of 2025”.

SEC. 2. REESTABLISHMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OFFICE RELATING TO FUSION.

(a) Office of Fusion.—Title II of the Department of Energy Organization Act is amended by inserting after section 215 (42 U.S.C. 7144b) the following:

“SEC. 216. OFFICE OF FUSION.

“(a) Establishment.—The Secretary shall establish the Office of Fusion (referred to in this section as the ‘Office’) within the Department to advance near-term and long-term fusion energy science and technology to meet the energy, environmental, and economic needs of the United States.

“(b) Purposes.—The purposes of the Office shall be—

“(1) to enhance the economic and energy security of the United States;

“(2) to maintain United States leadership in fusion energy technologies;

“(3) to advance fusion energy, in partnership with the private sector, to accelerate research, development, demonstration, deployment, and market adoption of fusion technologies;

“(4) to manage, through the Fusion Innovation Center established under subsection (g), public-private partnerships with the United States fusion industry to accelerate successful deployment of first commercial fusion power plants, with a goal to start construction of more than 1 private-sector fusion power plant not later than December 31, 2028;

“(5) to ensure an adequate national fusion supply chain infrastructure, including manufacturing capabilities;

“(6) to serve in a coordination role to align the capabilities of the Office of Science for basic research, the Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy for early technology development, and the National Nuclear Security Administration for inertial confinement fusion-relevant technologies to serve a single goal of accelerating commercial plant deployment while meeting high standards for safety;

“(7) to expand international fusion energy cooperation to support commercialization of fusion energy;

“(8) to ensure the availability of a well-trained workforce to support the fusion industry;

“(9) to provide technical expertise to regulators of fusion machines at the Federal, State, and international levels; and

“(10) to partner with other agencies to support programs and initiatives to facilitate international market opportunities for the United States commercial fusion industry.

“(c) Director.—The head of the Office shall be a Director selected by the Secretary.

“(d) Consolidation of Fusion Offices.—The Secretary shall—

“(1) conduct outreach to obtain stakeholder feedback from the private and public sectors relating to identifying the relevant commercially oriented Department programs involved in fusion, including programs under the Office of Science, that should be transferred to the Office, including any milestone- based private sector funding programs and the Innovation Network for Fusion Energy public-private partnership program; and

“(2) develop a timeline for transferring the programs identified under paragraph (1).

“(e) Consultation.—In carrying out the duties of the Office, the Director shall consult with the private sector, National Laboratories, institutions of higher education, and the public as to how to optimize the organization of the various programs within the Department.

“(f) Fusion Demonstration Program Vision.—

“(1) In general.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Office of Fusion Act of 2025, the Secretary and the Director shall submit to Congress a commercial deployment roadmap that—

“(A) identifies key barriers; and

“(B) describes specific activities to overcome those barriers and meet key deployment milestones, including activities such as early-stage technology development, regulatory streamlining, demonstration projects, and supply chain manufacturing.

“(2) Periodic report.—The Secretary and the Director shall submit to Congress an updated roadmap under paragraph

(1)—

“(A) every 4 years; or

“(B) appended to another periodic energy report, as determined by the Secretary and the Director.

“(g) Fusion Innovation Center.—

“(1) In general.—The Director shall establish within the Office a center, to be known as the ‘Fusion Innovation Center’, to lead public-private partnerships that facilitate commercial deployment of fusion.

“(2) National laboratory.—The Fusion Innovation Center established under paragraph (1) shall be based at a National Laboratory (as defined in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801)), or a university in the United States, with a dedicated and established fusion energy program that—

“(A) has demonstrated fusion technology advances;

“(B) has received funding from the Fusion Energy Sciences program of the Office of Science; and

“(C) has a facility capable of creating burning plasma and fusion relevant conditions.

“(h) Coordination and Nonduplication.—

“(1) In general.—To the maximum extent practicable, the Director shall ensure that the activities of the Office are coordinated with, and do not duplicate the efforts of, other programs and laboratories within the Department and other relevant research agencies.

“(2) Technology transfer coordination.—To the extent appropriate, the Director may coordinate with the Chief Commercialization Officer appointed under section 1001(a)(4) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16391(a)(4)).”.

(b) Fusion Energy Under Assistant Secretary.—Section 203(a)(2) of the Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7133(a)(2)) is amended—

(1) by redesignating subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E) as subparagraphs (D), (E), and (F), respectively; and

(2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:

“(C) fusion energy resources;”.

(c) Clerical Amendment.—The table of contents for the Department of Energy Organization Act (Public Law 95-91; 91 Stat. 565; 119 Stat. 764; 133 Stat. 2199) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 215 the following:

“Sec. 216. Office of Fusion.”. <all>