Avalanche Energy Signals Progress with FusionWERX

Last week, Avalanche Energy announced FusionWERX, its private-sector fusion test facility in Richland, Washington. Initial construction is expected to begin this summer and could offer a positive signal to investors as the startup gears up for a $100M Series B.

That signal is especially important given the current technical limitations of Avalanche’s Orbitron—a compact electrostatic confinement reactor whose fundamental physics constraints confine its usefulness to neutron generation and materials testing.

Those constraints include:

• Ion and electron losses: Charged particles collide with internal surfaces, reducing confinement time and overall efficiency.
  

• Space-charge limits: Electrostatic repulsion between like-charged particles caps plasma density, limiting fusion reaction rates.
  

• Bremsstrahlung losses: High-energy electrons emit X-rays, draining input power and increasing the system’s thermal load.
  

• Alpha particle escape: Without alpha confinement, the device can't benefit from the self-heating that drives sustained fusion in larger, magnetically confined plasmas.

While Avalanche’s small modular approach could unlock use cases inaccessible to larger reactors, surpassing Q > 1 with this architecture will require significant advances in confinement design, alpha energy capture, and fuel cycling—all within a device intended to fit on a desktop.

That’s where FusionWERX comes in. The facility’s core neutron source is Avalanche’s own Orbitron device, designed for continuous operation and high-energy neutron output. By showcasing near-term commercial applications alongside active R&D, FusionWERX could help Avalanche raise the capital it needs to stay in the fusion energy race.

Beyond serving as a testbed for in-house development, the site will also be open to outside collaborators—government labs, academic teams, and industry suppliers. Potential use cases include reactor material testing, medical isotope production, and radiation-hardened electronics. 

FusionWERX will operate under a broad-scope radioactive materials license, allowing experiments with fusion fuels—including tritium. That alone sets it apart: most private fusion startups lack not just access to tritium, but the infrastructure to handle and recycle it on-site. The facility also features hot cells for working with activated materials, high-voltage testing bays, and an integrated fuel cycle system.

At a strategic level, Avalanche’s push to commercialize sub-scale fusion hardware is part of a broader trend across the industry. More fusion companies are beginning to productize their technologies in parallel with long-term power plant development. Think HTS magnet spinoffs from CFS and Tokamak Energy. It’s a playbook that could help these startups bridge the gap between core R&D and commercially viable fusion.