What General Fusion does
General Fusion is a Canadian company trying to make electricity from nuclear fusion. Fusion releases energy by joining light atomic nuclei. Plasma physicist Michel Laberge founded the company in 2002, Physics World reported. It is based in Richmond, British Columbia, near Vancouver.
Its approach is called magnetized target fusion. A plasma, a superheated and electrically charged gas, is held in magnetic fields. A metal wall then collapses around it and heats it by compression. The company says the method avoids superconducting magnets and high-powered lasers. For a power plant, it plans a liquid metal wall. The company says that wall would shield the machine from neutrons, breed fuel and capture heat to make steam.
The LM26 machine
General Fusion announced in August 2023 that it would build Lawson Machine 26 (LM26) at its new Richmond headquarters, Nuclear Newswire reported. It aimed then for over 100 million degrees Celsius by 2025. It also aimed to progress toward scientific breakeven by 2026.
The company said in March 2025 that LM26 had formed its first magnetized plasma. In June 2026 it reported electron temperatures of 0.72 keV, or about 8.4 million degrees Celsius.
On October 8, 2026, the company and the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) said LM26 had passed 1 keV. A Thomson scattering system the two designed together read 1.1 keV, or 12.6 million degrees Celsius, just before peak compression. That method measures temperature with a laser. UKAEA co-wrote the paper on that reading. Another company instrument read about 1.2 keV at peak compression, General Fusion said. As of October 15, 2026, the company's site still listed the Thomson paper and a second paper as submitted for peer review.
Money and the stock listing
Funding has shaped the schedule. In a May 2025 open letter, chief executive Greg Twinney announced plans to cut about 25% of a 140-person staff, Physics World reported. The company also planned to reduce LM26 operations. It cited an unexpected and urgent financing constraint.
General Fusion agreed in January 2026 to merge with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III, a special purpose acquisition company. It put the deal's equity value at about $1 billion. Its shares began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker GFUZ on July 13, 2026. TechCrunch called it the first publicly listed fusion power company. The company said it held about US$150 million in cash. TechCrunch also reported that funding problems had likely pushed breakeven on LM26 to 2028 or later.
On the day of the 1 keV announcement, the shares closed up more than 14% at US$8.71, The Globe and Mail reported. Twinney told the paper that the money raised by going public would carry the company through the next couple of milestones.
What to watch
- Peer review of the two LM26 papers. UKAEA said it looks forward to the Thomson paper's publication in Review of Scientific Instruments.
- The next target of 10 keV, roughly 100 million degrees Celsius. The company has given no date for it.
- The Lawson criterion, the mix of temperature, density and confinement time needed for net fusion energy in the plasma. Twinney wrote that the company targets it by the end of 2028.
- A first-of-a-kind power plant, which the company aims to begin operating around 2035.
The fusion milestones tracker follows these steps. The site's report on the 1 keV result explains what was measured.
General Fusion timeline
General Fusion and UKAEA say LM26 heated plasma electrons past 1 keV. The paper on the reading was submitted for peer review.
General Fusion's shares begin trading on Nasdaq under the ticker GFUZ after a merger with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III.
Source: TechCrunch
General Fusion reports electron temperatures of 0.72 keV on LM26 and names 1 keV as its next goal.
Source: General Fusion
General Fusion announces an agreement to merge with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III, with an equity value of about $1 billion by its count.
Chief executive Greg Twinney announces plans to cut about a quarter of a 140-person staff and reduce LM26 operations.
Source: Physics World (IOP Publishing)
General Fusion announces that LM26 has formed its first magnetized plasma in the machine's target chamber.
Source: General Fusion
General Fusion announces it will build LM26, aiming for over 100 million degrees Celsius by 2025 and progress toward breakeven by 2026.
Plasma physicist Michel Laberge founds General Fusion.
Source: Physics World (IOP Publishing)
Sources
- UKAEA, General Fusion announce Magnetised Target Fusion milestone, UK Atomic Energy Authority (GOV.UK)
- General Fusion Achieves World-First 1 keV Electron Temperature Milestone on its Path to Commercial Fusion Power, General Fusion
- Submitted for Peer Review: Thomson Scattering Measurement of 1 keV Electron Temperature on Lawson Machine 26, General Fusion
- Submitted for Peer Review: Compressional Heating Above 1 keV on the LM26 Magnetized Target Fusion Machine, General Fusion
- 1 keV: A Milestone Achieved, and Why It Matters, General Fusion
- General Fusion Achieves Compressional Plasma Heating with LM26 Magnetized Target Fusion Machine, General Fusion
- General Fusion's Made-in-Canada Technology Achieves First Plasma in Cutting Edge Fusion Demonstration Machine, General Fusion
- General Fusion achieves technical milestone in plasma heating, The Globe and Mail
- Investors send General Fusion soaring in debut as first publicly traded fusion company, TechCrunch
- General Fusion Becomes First Publicly Listed Fusion Company, General Fusion
- Contact Us, General Fusion
- Canada's General Fusion to become publicly traded company, American Nuclear Society (Nuclear Newswire)
- General Fusion presses toward goal of magneto-inertial breakeven by 2026, American Nuclear Society (Nuclear Newswire)
- General Fusion lays off staff due to 'unexpected and urgent financing constraints', Physics World (IOP Publishing)
