Livermore a Leading Contender To Become Bay Area Fusion Hub

Pending state legislation to create three fusion-research hubs in California might soon help establish the state as the world leader in commercial-fusion power, with the City of Livermore positioned as a prime candidate to host one such hub.

State Senators Jerry McNerney and Anna Caballero in January introduced Senate Bill 80, a proposal to establish a fusion-research program within the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. Known as the Fusion Research and Development Innovation Hub Program, the hubs would accelerate — through shared resources, collaboration and grant opportunities — the state’s fusion industry with the goal of launching a California-based pilot fusion-power plant before 2040.

McNerney represents District 5, consisting of the Tri-Valley plus a portion of the Central Valley, including the cities of Tracy, Manteca, Stockton and Lodi. Caballero represents District 14, which includes the Central Valley cities of Merced and Fresno.

McNerney told The Independent that the bill intends to establish one hub in the Bay Area, one in the Central Valley and one in Southern California. He added that Livermore “would be ideal” for the Bay Area location.

“You’ve already had significant success with fusion ignition,” McNerney said, referring to recent fusion achievements at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility. “We have tremendous computer facilities. We have experts at Berkeley and Stanford, and there are three or four private firms (focused on fusion research) in the Bay Area that are funded by investors. It would be a real ideal choice and an obvious choice for me. And if I have any way to sort of promote that, I will.”

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