UT, ORNL and Type One Energy Launch Helium-Cooled High-Heat-Flux Fusion Test Facility at TVA’s Bull Run

Overview

• TVA has begun conditioning the Clinton, Tennessee, site as partners finalize design and move into procurement and assembly.
• The facility targets steady-state heat loads above 10 megawatts per square meter on test subcomponents, comparable to rocket-engine conditions.
• It will be only the second U.S. high-heat-flux site and the only one to use pressurized helium gas cooling.
• Backers include DOE’s Fusion Energy Sciences program, the State of Tennessee and Type One Energy, with completion planned by the end of 2027.
• The Bull Run campus will complement ORNL’s MPEX and serve as a regional hub for qualifying plasma-facing components and advancing fusion manufacturing.