Helion becomes first fusion company to win regulatory licenses for power plant

Helion Energy announced it has secured the world’s first regulatory licenses for a commercial fusion power facility. The Everett, Wash.-based startup broke ground last year on its planned Orion plant in Malaga, Wash.

Washington regulators issue two key licenses. The state Department of Health granted the company a Radioactive Materials License and a Radioactive Air Emissions License. Their issuance indicates Helion has satisfied all safety requirements covering the plant’s facilities, personnel and safety programs.

Helion collaborated closely with the Department of Health throughout the process, said CEO David Kirtley. Jill Wood, director of the DOH’s Office of Radiation, praised the partnership.

Fusion sector races toward commercial power. The company is one of more than 40 worldwide now targeting the reactions that power the sun in hopes of generating clean, abundant energy on Earth. Helion signed an agreement with Microsoft three years ago to supply electricity by 2028 for one of the tech giant’s data centers.

The Orion plant and the Microsoft facility will sit near each other in Malaga. The fusion system aims to produce 50 megawatts of power.

Company funding and technical milestones. Helion recently raised $463 million in new funding, bringing its total investments to $1.5 billion. So far, no company or academic effort has produced more energy from a fusion system than it takes to create the reactions, though both have notched important milestones toward that goal.

Skeptics believe it will take many years before anyone cracks fusion power, and some wonder whether the energy source will ever be cost-competitive. Even so, the sector and its regulations keep evolving.

Regulatory path shaped by federal and state action. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission determined in 2023 that fusion technology is more akin to particle accelerators and hospital equipment than to traditional nuclear fission reactors, and decided it should be regulated by the Department of Health rather than treated like a fission plant.

Washington state lawmakers also passed House Bill 1924 and House Bill 1018 to further clarify fusion’s status as a clean energy source and to establish permitting rules. The licenses mark a concrete step forward for the industry’s first regulated commercial-scale project.