Meeting to Commemorate the Founding of the Japan Fusion Energy Council Held
Japan Fusion Energy Council (J-Fusion) (Chair: Satoshi Konishi, Co-Founder, Representative Director, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Fusioneer, Kyoto Fusioneering Ltd.) held its inaugural general meeting of members on May 21, where Chair Satoshi Konishi and other executive directors presented an overview of the council and its future activities.
[Announcement Summary]
J-Fusion was established on March 29, 2024, based on the Japanese government’s Fusion Energy Innovation Strategy, with the aim of bringing innovation to the energy system in Japan and around the world by creating a fusion energy industry that is globally expected to become a huge industrial field in the future, and to contribute to human development through stable and clean energy in the future.
Currently, in addition to the 21 companies that initiated the founding of the Council, including manufacturers, trading companies, and general contractors, 29 new companies and organizations have joined the Council, and we have received applications from additional companies to participate in the Council.
In addition to these companies, organizations, and research institutes that have provided their endorsement, the Council will collaborate with the government officials and overseas organizations that have taken the lead in founding the Council, and will implement a variety of initiatives to promote the industrialization of fusion energy. First, several working groups will be established within the Council to promote specific projects of the Council, including surveys of domestic and international trends in the fusion industry, standardization activities for fusion energy-related technologies, policy proposals to the government including safety regulations, matching events between industry needs and university seeds and between fusion energy-related companies, and human resource development in cooperation with relevant organizations in Japan and overseas.
“The momentum for the practical application of fusion energy has become very heightened around the world over the past four to five years.” Said Satoshi Konishi, Chair of J-Fusion. “The backdrop to this is that we are entering a phase where countries are trying to develop fusion energy as a new industry with an eye toward commercialization in the context of increasingly serious global environmental and climate issues. Under these circumstances, the Fusion Energy Innovation Strategy by the Cabinet Office was announced last April, and as part of this strategy, private companies that are interested in developing fusion energy into a new industry have come together to form the Council. Until now, fusion energy has been the subject of national planning and basic research by public institutions around the world, partly due to technical difficulties. However, it is necessary for the industry to create systems in order to go beyond this fusion energy research to the stage where energy is actually delivered to consumers.
One feature of J-Fusion is that it aims to foster the development of an industry, and another is that it includes not only companies that have been involved in fusion energy up to now, but also many new companies that are just starting to participate. We will be discussing the details of specific activities in the future, and we hope to contribute to the development of Japan’s fusion energy industry with the participation of various companies and research institutions.”
Afterwards, a commemorative meeting was held to celebrate the founding of the Council, bringing together volunteers from companies, universities, research institutions, and government-related organizations who endorsed and participated in the founding goals of the Council. The commemorative meeting was attended by many people including Sanae Takaichi, Minister of State for Special Missions, and Masahito Moriyama, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and was a great success.
J-Fusion will continue to cooperate with companies, universities, research institutes, and government-related organizations to bring together the wisdom, human resources, knowledge, and experience of industry, government, and academia to create a fusion energy industry that will bring about innovation in the energy systems of Japan and the world in order to contribute to human development through stable and clean energy in the future.