Congress has passed and the President has signed an Omnibus Bill to fund fiscal year 2023, which started on October 1, 2022. The Department of Energy magnetic fusion budget within the Fusion Energy Sciences Office will be increased to $763 million, up from $713 million in 2022. The U.S. contribution to the ITER tokamak in France remains the same as last year, at $521 million.
Inertial confinement fusion includes the laser fusion program, such as the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where the major breakthrough in laser fusion occurred on Dec. 5, 2022. The inertial confinement fusion program in the Department of Energy is part of the National Security Agency’s weapons program. In 2022 it received $580 million and now $630 million for 2023.
