A blueprint for scalable fusion power

Fusion power is no longer just a theoretical dream — it's now a high-stakes engineering race with real milestones on the horizon. After the 2022 breakthrough at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, which achieved energy breakeven in a lab setting, the field has shifted from 'if' to 'when' fusion becomes viable. Carrie Von Munch, COO of Pacific Fusion, explains that the next critical milestone is net facility gain — where a fusion system produces more energy than is stored in the entire machine. Unlike the inefficient laser-driven approach used at Livermore, Pacific Fusion uses a pulsed-power system that’s far more efficient and modular, designed from the ground up to scale. The company’s approach relies on 156 identical, mass-manufacturable modules that can be swapped out like parts in a car, enabling rapid iteration and cost reduction. Von Munch reveals that fusion’s path to commercial viability isn’t just about energy gain — it’s about building systems that can be maintained, upgraded, and deployed at scale. The real breakthrough isn’t just physics; it’s financing: Pacific Fusion raised a billion dollars in tranches tied to technical milestones, a model borrowed from biotech that de-risks capital for hardware-heavy ventures. This structure works because fusion milestones are binary and clearly defined — you either hit net facility gain or you don’t — making it possible to align investor incentives with long-term execution. The most surprising insight?