Fusion energy is moving from national laboratories into commercial development and fusion companies are hiring technicians now.
Washington holds one of the largest concentrations of fusion energy companies anywhere. Helion Energy and Zap Energy in Everett, Avalanche Energy in Seattle with a test facility in Richland, and Kyoto Fusioneering builds fusion components in the state. ExoFusion in Bellevue, which works in fusion design, simulation, and IP licensing, and Altrusion at the SWIFT Center in Sedro-Woolley, which is building fusion supply chain manufacturing capacity also support the sector.
As fusion transitions from R&D to commercial scale operations, the workforce will need more to technical workers. Expanding modular training in the K-12 system is one way to help grow awareness for these careers.
Currently, only three programs train fusion technicians today. One in the United Kingdom, sponsored by the UK Atomic Energy Authority, and two in the United States – one at a Department of Energy national laboratory and one run jointly by a national laboratory and a community college.
Read the full report: Existing and Emerging Fusion Technician Training Programs Across the Globe
The CleanTech Alliance is also seeking proposals from curriculum designers to build fusion energy instructional modules for Washington high school science classrooms.
This work is funded by the Washington State Department of Commerce under Green Jobs Grant #26-922F0-004. The Green Jobs Grant Program is supported with funding from Washington’s Climate Commitment Act. The CCA supports Washington’s climate action efforts by putting cap-and-invest dollars to work reducing climate pollution, creating jobs, and improving public health. Information about the CCA is available at www.climate.wa.gov.