Livermore To Vote On Billion-Dollar Nuclear Fusion Research Facility

LIVERMORE, CA — The Livermore City Council will vote Monday whether to approve the Pacific Fusion Project, a $1 billion, 225,000-square-foot nuclear fusion research, development, and advanced manufacturing facility on Jack London Boulevard.

The facility will be located on a vacant 14-acre site along West Jack London Boulevard, just west of the Oaks Business Park.

Run by Fremont-based Pacific Fusion, it would conduct world-class research in fusion energy, a developing science that aims to harness the process of joining light atomic nuclei together. If the science is ever realized at commercial scale, it would provide limitless, pollution-free energy that does not produce any nuclear waste. Fusion is the same process that powers the sun and other stars.
Livermore is already a center of fusion energy research. In 2022, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory made international headlines by producing more energy in a fusion reaction than was used to ignite it, an elusive goal known as "net energy gain." LLNL continues to break records, including in June when they partnered with Los Alamos National Laboratory to generate 2.4 megajoules of fusion energy by burning plasma.

The new Livermore research facility would not produce power - it would simply be the first research facility dedicated exclusively to fusion energy research that complies with all CalOSHA and California Department of Public Health regulations. Pacific Fusion estimates that the facility would create roughly 250 high-paying new jobs.

It would include a mix of office, manufacturing, and utility space. To accommodate the equipment necessary for fusion research, the building would reach a maximum height of 110 feet, far above standard limits for the area, requiring city council approval of a zoning amendment and conditional use permit.

The council will also consider an economic incentive package designed to help Livermore compete with other cities vying to host the facility, including Alameda and Albuquerque. Proposed incentives include a rebate on unsecured property taxes, waiving of certain construction taxes, and the formation of a Community Facilities District to help fund infrastructure improvements. Even with the tax breaks, the facility is still expected to generate $120 million in tax revenue for the city over a 10–year-period, according to a Livermore Vine report.

According to the staff report, the project qualifies for a streamlined environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act, because the site was already evaluated as part of the larger SMP 39/SMP 40 annexation area and meets the criteria for advanced manufacturing.

See here to learn more about the project and see all related documents, and here for Monday’s full agenda. Visit livermore.pacificfusion.com for further information.

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