„Laser fusion is an international project for the future.“

Laser fusion promises virtually inexhaustible energy. So far, however, significantly more energy is being used than produced. Where does research stand today?

Laser fusion has gained considerable momentum in recent years. A major milestone was achieved at the National Ignition Facility, or NIF, at the end of 2022: for the first time, a target gain greater than one was achieved, meaning that more energy was released through fusion than the laser pulse delivered to the target. Just two and a half years later, this value had already reached 4.13. This shows that the physical principle works.

What is still missing before we can have a power plant?

The next step is to turn this principle into a reliable and economically viable energy technology. To achieve this, we need to make major advances in laser systems, targets and the overall plant technology. A target gain of around 100 is often cited as a benchmark for economically viable power plant operation. This is not a fixed physical limit, but it illustrates how much work remains to be done. Nevertheless, many experts believe that the first demonstration power plants could become a reality within the next two to three decades.

What are the main technical hurdles that still need to be overcome?

One of the biggest challenges is the laser systems. Research facilities such as NIF can generate the high-energy pulses required, but they can only produce a few shots per day, require extensive maintenance and have poor efficiency. A commercial power plant, by contrast, would need to deliver around ten shots per second – for many years, with high availability and significantly greater efficiency. Modern diode-pumped solid-state lasers, known as DPSSLs, are particularly promising in this regard. They already achieve high repetition rates and good efficiency, but still need to be scaled up to the required power levels.

And where are the other sticking points?

A power plant would require around one million targets per day for each fusion chamber. These fuel capsules are only a few millimeters in size. Each target must meet extremely high quality requirements and be delivered into the fusion chamber with exceptional precision. An industrial process chain for this does not yet exist. Ultimately, economic viability will also be decisive: the cost of laser diodes would have to fall by at least 90 percent, while the cost of targets would need to fall even further. That sounds ambitious. But microelectronics demonstrates the dramatic cost reductions that can be achieved through industrial scaling and mass production.

The technology is still at an early stage of development. Why is it nevertheless important to start working on standards and standardization for laser fusion now?

Precisely at this stage, standards and standardization can have a major impact. Once a technology is established on the market, bringing different solutions together can be a laborious process. If standardization begins early, it can define common milestones, steer development in meaningful directions and build trust. This supports industrial scale-up.

What would happen without common standards?

A laser fusion power plant will consist of millions of highly precise components – from laser diodes and optics to sensors, control systems and diagnostic equipment. Without standards, manufacturers would have to adapt their components individually for each plant. This would increase development costs, restrict competition and make international supply chains more difficult. Uniform requirements, by contrast, ensure that components from different manufacturers can work together and be produced with assured quality. They also provide planning certainty for companies, investors and regulatory authorities. Standardization is therefore not a technical detail that only becomes relevant at the end. It helps turn successful research into a technology that can be used industrially.

The DKE established the new DKE/K 842 Laser Fusion standardization committee in 2025. What has happened there so far?

Since its establishment in April 2025, experts from industry, research and standardization have met several times to jointly assess where the greatest need for standardization exists. On this basis, we are preparing initial proposals for international standardization projects at the IEC. Our aim is not to anticipate technological developments or prescribe individual solutions. Instead, we want to establish common foundations so that new technologies can later be industrialized efficiently and implemented internationally in a compatible way.

Where is the greatest need for standardization – for example, in laser systems, measurement methods, materials, safety requirements or interfaces between individual components?

There is a need for standardization across the entire value chain. At the international level, the current focus is particularly on safety aspects and testing procedures, for example for closed tritium fuel cycles. Materials and design will also become increasingly important because the materials in the fusion chamber must withstand extreme loads over long periods. There is also a need for quality standards and interfaces: a power plant is likely to comprise hundreds of laser systems and thousands of other components from different manufacturers. They must work together reliably and be interchangeable so that maintenance and upgrades remain economically viable.

Laser fusion is being researched internationally, while the countries and companies involved are pursuing different technological approaches. How can we prevent competing standards from emerging?

IEC and ISO provide the framework for developing globally harmonized standards together with industry and research. To achieve this, the relevant stakeholders need to become involved at an early stage through their national standardization organizations. At the same time, we need to strike the right balance between detail and openness. Different concepts are competing in laser fusion, so it would be too early to prescribe individual technical solutions. It makes more sense to standardize common foundations first, such as terminology, safety requirements, measurement and testing methods, quality criteria and interfaces. These will be needed regardless of which fusion concept ultimately prevails. Laser fusion is an international technology of the future. If it is to become an energy technology that can be used worldwide, research, industry and standardization need to work together from the outset.