3rd Public-Private Fusion Workshop: Register now
In January, ITER released a save-the-date and survey for its Spring 2026 Public-Private Fusion Workshop, which is taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday, 28-29 April. The response was strong and enthusiastic. Survey results and follow-up discussions have shaped a stimulating workshop program, viewable on the event website.* The goal of these workshops is, after all, to serve private sector fusion initiatives by optimizing the benefits offered by ITER’s Private Sector Fusion Engagement (PSFE) Project.
ITER’s joint workshops with private sector fusion companies are, by design, technical and candid. They are designed as venues for showcasing achievement but, equally, they offer a prime setting for honesty about efforts to address fusion’s remaining challenges—in the presence of peers representing the best of the global fusion research community, setting the stage for networking, brainstorming and mutually supportive plans for progress.
As the website notes:
“Fusion: a Joint Quest” reflects the reality that progress toward fusion energy is neither linear nor uniform, but pursued through multiple technical approaches, institutional models, and timelines. Across public and private efforts alike, divergent visions coexist with genuinely complementary strengths—in science, engineering, manufacturing, and systems integration.
At ITER, where large-scale construction and operation depend on sustained cooperation across sectors and geopolitical boundaries, engagement is not a matter of persuasion or consensus, but of disciplined, practical collaboration: the exchange of data, designs, expertise, and hard-won experience. This workshop embraces healthy disagreement as an ongoing feature of the fusion landscape and treats engagement itself as an asset—one that, when pursued seriously and respectfully, yields tangible value for all participants. The aim is not to resolve differences prematurely, but to ensure that they sharpen, rather than fragment, the collective effort.
This year’s agenda will feature discussions on lessons learned—positive and negative—in ITER’s Engineering Basis Handbook, as well as more recent project management insights on construction and assembly. Eight sessions will cover the latest progress, private and public, in key areas of fusion innovation. By popular request, the global fusion supply chain will continue to feature prominently: on Tuesday evening, fusion supplier companies will be able to exhibit their latest technologies (limited by available space).
On the days before and after the workshop (Monday 27 and Thursday 30 April, respectively), workshop participants will again have the chance to take general and specific tours of the ITER worksite, and to consult with ITER experts on a variety of topics.
Registration for the workshop as well as for tours and consultations is now open here. Workshop capacity is limited, and priority as always is given to participants representing private sector fusion initiatives.
*The workshop agenda (click on Program and scroll down) may be adjusted in the coming weeks, based on additional feedback—which is always welcome. For many agenda topics, presenters have already been identified, but some slots remain open. If you would like to be a speaker/presenter on one of the listed agenda topics, or on a related topic, please send an email with your formal or informal proposal to @email.