Investing in the Future of Fusion Research at Bull Run
Commercial fusion energy requires more than innovative designs—it requires world-class testing facilities, strong public-private partnerships, and a commitment to advancing the science and engineering capabilities that benefit the entire industry.
At Type One Energy, we believe leadership in fusion means more than developing our own technologies. It means helping build the foundation that will enable fusion energy to succeed at scale. That’s why we actively work alongside national laboratories, universities, and industry partners on projects that extend beyond our own development programs and support the broader fusion community.
One of the latest examples of that commitment is the FORGED-PFC facility, a new high-heat flux testing platform being developed at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Bull Run Energy Complex in East Tennessee.
Advancing One of Fusion’s Toughest Engineering Challenges
Fusion devices create extraordinary operating environments. Components inside a fusion system must withstand intense heat loads, extreme temperatures, and prolonged exposure to demanding operating conditions. Understanding how materials perform under these conditions is one of the most important challenges facing the industry as it moves toward commercial deployment.
The FORGED-PFC facility has been designed to help answer those questions.
Developed in partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the Facility for Ongoing Research on Gas-cooled Energy Dissipation in Plasma Facing Components (FORGED-PFCs) will provide researchers and engineers with the ability to evaluate plasma-facing components and other critical materials under conditions that closely replicate those found in future fusion power plants.
When completed, FORGED-PFC will become only the second facility of its kind in the United States and by far the most powerful. It will also be the only domestic facility capable of operating with pressurized helium gas cooling, a technology pathway being pursued for many fusion concepts.
Turning Vision into Reality
On June 16, 2026, the FORGED-PFC team successfully completed its Preliminary Design Review (PDR) at Type One Energy’s Knoxville headquarters. The review brought together presenters from ORNL, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Tickle School of Engineering, and Type One Energy, with oversight from an independent panel of experts representing ORNL, Penn State University, Michigan State, and University of California, San Diego.
The successful review marks the culmination of months of design and engineering work by the project team and clears the way for the next phase of development, including detailed design activities and procurement efforts.
FORGED-PFCs review team successfully completes the Preliminary Design Review.
A Resource for the Entire Fusion Industry
The facility will create opportunities for researchers from national laboratories, universities, and private industry to investigate how advanced materials perform under fusion-relevant conditions. The resulting data can help accelerate technology development across the fusion ecosystem, strengthening the collective knowledge base that will be needed to bring fusion energy to market.
While FORGED-PFC will support Type One Energy’s own development efforts, its impact extends far beyond any single company or project. In this way, Bull Run is becoming more than the future home of Type One Energy’s Project Infinity. It is evolving into a center for fusion innovation, where scientists, engineers, and institutions can work together to advance the energy technologies that will define the world’s future.
This collaborative approach reflects a core belief at Type One Energy: some of the most important challenges facing fusion are best solved together.