Helical Fusion Announces Construction Site for Phase 1 of “HelixHARUKA,” Marking Transition to Manufacturing and Assembly of Fusion Hardware

Advances one of Japan’s leading public-private partnership initiatives for fusion commercialization with NIFS and industrial partners

Helical Fusion announced the construction site for Phase 1 of Helix HARUKA, its Integrated

Demonstration Device.

Phase 1—the magnet demonstration phase—will be built in a dedicated workspace for the joint

research group formed by Helical Fusion and the National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS),

located on the NIFS campus. Helical Fusion has already begun manufacturing phase and site

build-out, with the aim of conducting coil current (energization) tests in 2027.

This milestone represents more than a site announcement. It marks Helical Fusion’s transition

into a new execution phase centered on the manufacturing, assembly, and system-level

validation of fusion-device hardware. In other words, the program is progressing beyond

laboratory research and standalone component development toward the physical realization of

an integrated fusion machine.

It also highlights Helical Fusion’s role in leading a “Japan-style public–private partnership

(PPP)” for fusion commercialization. By bringing together NIFS’s world-class research foundation

and infrastructure with Helical Fusion’s private-sector system integration and the manufacturing

capabilities of industrial partners, the company is building a tightly coupled build-and-test

loop aimed at accelerating commercialization.

Concept image of Helix HARUKA

In Phase 1, Helical Fusion will assemble a non-planar helical high-temperature

superconducting(HTS) magnet and conduct current tests to validate the magnet’s

performance as a system under expected operating conditions. In magnetic-confinement fusion,

the magnet is a core technology that fundamentally shapes performance, reliability, and

economics . As international competition intensifies, Helical Fusion is advancing a

development model that connects research excellence with manufacturing execution and

hardware integration.

Overview of Demonstration Phases within the Helix Program

1) Helix HARUKA — Phase 1 (Magnet Demonstration)

Purpose: Current-testing of a non-planar helical HTS magnet system.

Location: Dedicated space for the joint research group on the NIFS campus.

2) Helix HARUKA — Phase 2 (Integrated Demonstration)

Purpose: Integrated demonstration of key enabling technologies—including the HTS magnet

and the blanket/divertor—together with a key milestone of the program: demonstrating

sustained high-temperature plasma operation for durations sufficient to underpin an

engineering outlook toward steady-state power-plant operation. This is intended to

establish technical confidence for the first power-generating unit, Helix KANATA.

Note: No power generation will be conducted in Phase 2.

Location: Not disclosed.

3) Helix KANATA (First Power-Generating Unit)

Purpose: Achieve “practical power generation,” including net-electric operation, steady-

state operation, and maintainability demonstrations.

Location: Not disclosed.

---

Background

Collaboration with NIFS

NIFS is a leading public research institution driving helical stellarator fusion research, operating

the Large Helical Device (LHD), one of the world’s foremost large-scale plasma experimental

facilities for the stellarator approach. Through LHD, NIFS has accumulated key operating know-

how for long-duration operation, including sustaining plasma for 3,268 seconds (54 minutes 28

seconds), alongside advances in plasma stability control and management of heat and particle

loads. NIFS is also recognized for deep expertise in fusion reactor engineering design.

Helical Fusion was founded in 2021 as a spin-out leveraging research outcomes from NIFS. Since

2024, Helical Fusion and NIFS have operated under a formal joint research framework,

collaborating on key technologies including HTS magnet systems and blanket/divertor systems.

By locating Phase 1 at the dedicated joint workspace on the NIFS campus, Helical Fusion will

more tightly connect research and hardware buildout—accelerating engineering integration.

This structure is emerging as a leading example of how Japan can commercialize fusion: a

national research institution providing deep scientific and engineering knowledge, a startup

driving speed and plant-level system integration, and industrial partners contributing

manufacturing and execution capability. Helical Fusion believes this public–private model can

become a distinctive strength of Japan’s fusion industry.

Co-Founder and CEO of Helical Fusion, Takaya Taguchi (left), and Ryo Yasuhara (right), Chief of the Industry-Academia-Government Coordination Section at NIFS, shake hands at NIFS in Toki City, Gifu, Japan. The photo was taken in 2024 at the announcement of the launch of the joint research organization.

Why Fusion Energy—and Why Now

Global electricity demand is rising rapidly, driven by population growth and the scaling of data

centers and AI. Fusion energy is widely viewed as a long-term solution because it has no CO2

emissions during operation and can use abundant fuel such as isotope of hydrogen derived from

seawater.

In Japan, national policy is increasingly emphasizing early social implementation of fusion and a

clearer roadmap toward power-generation demonstrations in the 2030s, alongside expanded

programs to support private-sector projects. Against that backdrop, Helical Fusion’s co-located

build-and-test model with NIFS stands out as one of the representative examples of Japan’s

fusion PPP approach—aligning public research capability and private manufacturing scale to

accelerate commercialization.