Policy paper

Joint statement on fusion energy

Published 14 September 2026

Joint statement by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States Department of Energy following the Global Fusion Policy Summit 2026

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero of the United Kingdom and the United States Department of Energy have marked the successful conclusion of the Global Fusion Policy Summit, hosted at Mansion House in London. Co-chaired by UK Minister for Energy Michael Shanks and US Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil, the United Kingdom and United States brought together Ministerial and high-level representatives from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Finland. 

Building on cooperation under the 2025 UK–US Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Regarding the Technology Prosperity Deal, and advancing the UK’s Fusion Strategy and the US Fusion Science and Technology Roadmap, the Summit brought together senior representatives from governments, industry, academia, and international organisations to accelerate progress towards the commercialisation of fusion energy.

Fusion energy is entering a new phase, motivating new industrialisation and deployment efforts, as well as a step change in investment. Through plenary sessions and side events at today’s Summit, participants reaffirmed the importance of strengthened international collaboration to address shared technical, regulatory, trade, and commercial challenges. Participants also underscored support for the development of a global fusion energy market and the unlocking of investment at scale.

The Global Fusion Policy Summit co-chairs acknowledged the shared international interest in driving forward progress on fusion energy to support economic and energy security, working with other like-minded countries. To that end, the co-chairs underscore the potential for collaborative and creative partnerships between governments and the private sector to address fusion R&D challenges, catalyse investment, and accelerate commercialisation.

The co-chairs also underscored the importance of proportionate, pro-innovation regulatory frameworks that ensure safety, support non-proliferation, and build public trust while enabling investment and providing confidence to industry. Moreover, the co-chairs recognise the value of working with international partners, including through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other multilateral fora, to support greater alignment of approaches over time.

Increasing regulatory harmonisation is crucial in achieving safe and secure fusion energy and creating certainty for developers and investors. In the spirit of improving regulatory harmonisation, the co-chairs reaffirm our commitment to implement tangible measures to achieve this goal by:

• developing proportionate, risk-informed regulatory approaches for fusion power plants and exploring opportunities to align regulatory expectations and processes where appropriate, including strengthening regulator-to-regulator cooperation through regular exchanges of knowledge
• participating in international standards bodies so that fusion best-practice standards development for this emerging industry proceeds at a pace aligned with technology readiness and that future fusion standards are proportionate, internationally aligned, and shaped by countries actively developing the technology
• encouraging national and international level collaboration between governments, regulators, industry, and research organisations to share insights and work through multilateral fora toward the development of technology-appropriate harmonisation of regulatory regimes, codes, and standards that recognise fusion’s distinct safety profile among nuclear technologies. This includes recognising that fusion safety standards and guidance should be distinct from fission safety standards, and that radiological safety standards are a more appropriate starting point for development of fusion standards

Participants welcomed ongoing work by multilateral organisations and fora on fusion energy and agreed to engage constructively to ensure that the outcomes of the Summit help inform this work, including through continued dialogue and the provision of technical and policy input where appropriate. Participants acknowledged the importance of these platforms to provide a strategic direction to international governments and industry – with dedicated fusion specialists at the forefront to lead efforts in support of fusion development.

Summit participants acknowledged that AI and other advanced technologies have the potential to accelerate scientific discovery, engineering design, and operational optimisation for fusion energy, accelerating progress towards safe, secure, and sustainable energy systems. The Summit also recognised the key role that stable, collaborative partnerships between governments and the private sector can play accelerating the deployment of fusion energy.

The co-chairs intend to build on the outcomes of the Summit and continue to work together and with like-minded countries to address key challenges facing the global fusion sector and support the commercial deployment of fusion energy.