Helical Fusion Renews Joint Research Division Agreement with NIFS, Strengthening Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration for Fusion Commercialization

Helical Fusion has renewed its joint research division agreement with the National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS), part of the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS), Japan.

Alongside the renewal, Helical Fusion has expanded the dedicated workspace of its “HF Joint Research Group” on the NIFS campus. The enhanced collaboration framework will support the next major milestone of the Helix Program: advancing superconducting magnet demonstration for Helix HARUKA, Helical Fusion’s Integrated Demonstration Device, which is aimed at enabling commercial fusion power in the 2030s.

Image: Rendering of Helix HARUKA, Helical Fusion’s Integrated Demonstration Device.

NIFS is one of the world’s leading public fusion research institutes and a global center of excellence in helical, or stellarator, fusion research. Through its Large Helical Device (LHD), NIFS has accumulated world-class expertise, including sustaining plasma for 3,268 seconds (approximately 54 minutes), achieving plasma temperatures above 100 million degrees Celsius, and developing the stable plasma control knowledge required for long-duration operation. Helical Fusion was founded in 2021 as a spinout built on research achievements originating at NIFS.

Since 2024, Helical Fusion and NIFS have advanced joint research on core technologies essential to fusion commercialization, including high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets and blanket/divertor systems. This collaboration has already produced major technical progress under the Helix Program, including successful HTS magnet demonstrations using NIFS’s globally rare large-scale testing infrastructure, such as its Large Superconducting Coil Test Facility and Large-Diameter High-Field Conductor Test Facility.

A test high-temperature superconducting (HTS) coil being hoisted for installation into NIFS’s globally rare Large-Diameter High-Field Conductor Test Facility(Photographed in 2025 at the National Institute for Fusion Science, Toki, Gifu, Japan)

GALOP, a testing device for the blanket, a core component that receives fusion energy as heat (Photographed in 2025 in the dedicated HF Joint Research Group workspace at the National Institute for Fusion Science, Toki, Gifu, Japan)

In September 2025, Helical Fusion was officially certified as a NINS Venture, receiving broader institutional support from the National Institutes of Natural Sciences, which brings together five of Japan’s leading research institutes, including NIFS. In March 2026, the company also announced that the first phase of demonstration for Helix HARUKA will be carried out in the dedicated HF Joint Research Group space on the NIFS campus.

This renewed collaboration and expanded on-site capability mark another important step in Helical Fusion’s transition from research to hardware integration and construction. For the company, its long-term partnership with a world-class research institution is one of its most important strategic advantages—and a key enabler in accelerating fusion commercialization from Japan to the world.