Amended IN Senate March 28, 2025 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE 20252026 REGULAR SESSION Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 25Introduced by Senators Blakespear and McNerney(Coauthor: Senator Caballero)(Coauthors: Assembly Members Calderon and Ward)February 19, 2025Relative to nuclear fusion. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGESTSCR 25, as amended, Blakespear. Nuclear fusion.This measure would proclaim that the State of California celebrates the numerous contributions of public and private sector nuclear fusion organizations within California for advancing fusion energy research and redevelopment, development, applauds recent scientific breakthroughs at specified facilities, advances in magnetic fusion energy and inertial confinement at public research facilities in San Diego and Livermore, recognizes the vast potential of fusion energy for addressing key climate and national security goals and the contributions of Californias private fusion industry, commends the University of Californias Office of the President for its leadership in establishing the Pacific CREST Fusion initiative, and supports developing the fusion energy ecosystem with the goal of siting a first-of-a-kind fusion pilot plant in California by the 2030s. 2040s.Digest Key Fiscal Committee: NO Bill TextWHEREAS, The global demand for energy is projected to increase by 33 to 75 percent by 2050, which will rely significantly on oil, natural gas, and coal amid population growth, industry growth, and higher living standards; andWHEREAS, The global energy sector is the primary cause of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, with coal, oil, and gas supplying more than 80 percent of demand; andWHEREAS, The 2021 Senate Bill 100 Joint Agency Report published by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission), Public Utilities Commission, and State Air Resources Board pursuant to the 100 Percent Clean Energy Act of 2018 (Chapter 312 of the Statutes of 2018), which established a target requiring renewable energy and zero-carbon resources to supply 100 percent of electric retail sales to end-use customers by 2045, to help meet the states economywide climate goals; andWHEREAS, California Governor Gavin Newsom has laid out a comprehensive roadmap called, Building the Electricity Grid of the Future: Californias Clean Energy Transition Plan, demonstrating Californias leadership in responding to climate change and leading the clean energy revolution; andWHEREAS, Fusion energy holds the promise potential of nearly limitless clean, safe, and firm energy, without producing air pollution, harmful emissions, or long-lasting nuclear waste; andWHEREAS, The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to publish a draft rule by March 2025 that regulates fusion machines under a different framework than nuclear fission machines, based on the grounds that fusion facilities will may not have the potential to cause large radiation doses to workers or the public in accident scenarios and cannot produce runaway reactions; andWHEREAS, California is the United States leader in fusion energy research and development, with more than 20,000 jobs throughout the fusion research and development ecosystem; andWHEREAS, California hosts public sector fusion research and development programs facilities under the direction of the United States Department of Energy at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the National Ignition Facility, Sandia National Laboratories, the Stanford Linear Accelerator, and the DIII-D National Fusion Facility; Energy; andWHEREAS, The DIII-D National Fusion Facility tokamak nuclear fusion facility in San Diego is the largest and most productive magnetic fusion energy research facility in the United States, and has made significant advancements in the pursuit of fusion energy, including its 202324 two-year research campaign, which successfully achieved a combination of high density and high confinement that had never previously been achieved simultaneously and fulfils fulfills a key requirement of fusion energy production; andWHEREAS, The National Ignition Facility ignition nuclear fusion facility in Livermore achieved the first controlled fusion ignition in a laboratory setting in December 2022 and has successfully repeated ignition with higher fusion yields at least five times; andWHEREAS, California companies are the largest share of industry partners for ITER (Latin for the way), an unprecedented international collaboration of 35 different nations working to design, construct, and assemble a reactor-scale burning plasma experiment that can demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy, and are supplying key components, including the central solenoid, which is the most powerful superconducting electromagnet in the world and will drive ITERs plasmas; andWHEREAS, Californias public sector fusion research programs have received more than $5,000,000 to advance cutting-edge fusion research; andWHEREAS, California is a leader in fusion energy academic programs, with nationally recognized programs at the University of Californias campuses at Berkeley, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Riverside, and robust programs at universities, polytechnic universities, colleges, and vocational schools throughout the state; andWHEREAS, California is home to one-third of all United States private fusion energy companies working to commercialize fusion, with total global investments exceeding $8 billion; andWHEREAS, Substantial technical progress has been made in multiple fusion energy pathways and with diverse fuels, including, but not limited to, deuterium-tritium, hydrogen-boron, and deuterium-helium-3; andWHEREAS, Commercially scaled fusion energy could have a global economic impact of approximately $40 trillion; andWHEREAS, California enacted Assembly Bill 1172 of the Regular Session of the Legislature (Chapter 360 of the Statutes of 2023), requiring the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Energy Commission to assess the potential for fusion energy to contribute to the states energy supply as part of the 2027 Integrated Energy Policy Report, including identifying the necessary regulatory and policy actions required to deploy fusion energy; andWHEREAS, The United States Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committees long-range plan, Powering the Future: Fusion & Plasmas, calls for constructing the first United States fusion pilot plant in the 2030s; 2040s; andWHEREAS, The United States Department of Energys decadal strategy, Fusion Energy Strategy 2024, calls for closing science and technology gaps to a commercially relevant fusion pilot plant, preparing the path to sustainable, equitable commercial fusion deployment, and building and leveraging external partnerships to achieve fusion at the fastest possible timescale; andWHEREAS, The United States Department of Energy published a Request for Information in July 2024 soliciting input for a Fusion Energy Public-Private Consortium Framework, with the goal of accelerating fusion energy research, development, demonstration, and deployment by amplifying federal funding with state, local government, private, and philanthropic funding sources, to meet the goals of the decadal strategy; andWHEREAS, More than 35 organizations, including 25 based in California, submitted a joint response to the Request for Information under the name of The Pacific Coalition for Advancing Research, Education, Science, and Technology for Fusion Energy (Pacific CREST Fusion), presenting a vision for positioning California as the leader of the United States fusion energy field; and WHEREAS, On January 22, 2025, the Board of Regents of the University of Californias Office of the President unanimously approved establishing the Pacific CREST Fusion Organization as a University of California led not-for-profit organization to advance fusion energy in California through public-private partnership; now, therefore, be itResolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the State of California celebrates the numerous contributions of public and private sector nuclear fusion organizations within California for advancing fusion energy research and redevelopment; development; and be it furtherResolved, That the State of California applauds recent scientific breakthroughs at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility and the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; advances in magnetic fusion energy and inertial confinement at public research facilities in San Diego and Livermore; and be it furtherResolved, That the State of California recognizes the vast potential of fusion energy for addressing key climate and national security goals and the contributions of Californias private fusion industry; and be it furtherResolved, That the State of California commends the University of Californias Office of the President for its leadership in establishing the Pacific CREST Fusion initiative; and be it furtherResolved, That the State of California supports developing the fusion energy ecosystem, including the future workforce and supply chain required to advance fusion research, development, demonstration, and deployment, with the goal of siting a first-of-a-kind fusion pilot plant in California by the 2030s. 2040s.
Amended IN Senate March 28, 2025 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE 20252026 REGULAR SESSION Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 25Introduced by Senators Blakespear and McNerney(Coauthor: Senator Caballero)(Coauthors: Assembly Members Calderon and Ward)February 19, 2025Relative to nuclear fusion. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGESTSCR 25, as amended, Blakespear. Nuclear fusion.This measure would proclaim that the State of California celebrates the numerous contributions of public and private sector nuclear fusion organizations within California for advancing fusion energy research and redevelopment, development, applauds recent scientific breakthroughs at specified facilities, advances in magnetic fusion energy and inertial confinement at public research facilities in San Diego and Livermore, recognizes the vast potential of fusion energy for addressing key climate and national security goals and the contributions of Californias private fusion industry, commends the University of Californias Office of the President for its leadership in establishing the Pacific CREST Fusion initiative, and supports developing the fusion energy ecosystem with the goal of siting a first-of-a-kind fusion pilot plant in California by the 2030s. 2040s.Digest Key Fiscal Committee: NO
Amended IN Senate March 28, 2025
Amended IN Senate March 28, 2025
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE 20252026 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Concurrent Resolution
No. 25
Introduced by Senators Blakespear and McNerney(Coauthor: Senator Caballero)(Coauthors: Assembly Members Calderon and Ward)February 19, 2025
Introduced by Senators Blakespear and McNerney(Coauthor: Senator Caballero)(Coauthors: Assembly Members Calderon and Ward)
February 19, 2025
Relative to nuclear fusion.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
## LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCR 25, as amended, Blakespear. Nuclear fusion.
This measure would proclaim that the State of California celebrates the numerous contributions of public and private sector nuclear fusion organizations within California for advancing fusion energy research and redevelopment, development, applauds recent scientific breakthroughs at specified facilities, advances in magnetic fusion energy and inertial confinement at public research facilities in San Diego and Livermore, recognizes the vast potential of fusion energy for addressing key climate and national security goals and the contributions of Californias private fusion industry, commends the University of Californias Office of the President for its leadership in establishing the Pacific CREST Fusion initiative, and supports developing the fusion energy ecosystem with the goal of siting a first-of-a-kind fusion pilot plant in California by the 2030s. 2040s.
This measure would proclaim that the State of California celebrates the numerous contributions of public and private sector nuclear fusion organizations within California for advancing fusion energy research and redevelopment, development, applauds recent scientific breakthroughs at specified facilities, advances in magnetic fusion energy and inertial confinement at public research facilities in San Diego and Livermore, recognizes the vast potential of fusion energy for addressing key climate and national security goals and the contributions of Californias private fusion industry, commends the University of Californias Office of the President for its leadership in establishing the Pacific CREST Fusion initiative, and supports developing the fusion energy ecosystem with the goal of siting a first-of-a-kind fusion pilot plant in California by the 2030s. 2040s.
## Digest Key
## Bill Text
WHEREAS, The global demand for energy is projected to increase by 33 to 75 percent by 2050, which will rely significantly on oil, natural gas, and coal amid population growth, industry growth, and higher living standards; and
WHEREAS, The global energy sector is the primary cause of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, with coal, oil, and gas supplying more than 80 percent of demand; and
WHEREAS, The 2021 Senate Bill 100 Joint Agency Report published by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission), Public Utilities Commission, and State Air Resources Board pursuant to the 100 Percent Clean Energy Act of 2018 (Chapter 312 of the Statutes of 2018), which established a target requiring renewable energy and zero-carbon resources to supply 100 percent of electric retail sales to end-use customers by 2045, to help meet the states economywide climate goals; and
WHEREAS, California Governor Gavin Newsom has laid out a comprehensive roadmap called, Building the Electricity Grid of the Future: Californias Clean Energy Transition Plan, demonstrating Californias leadership in responding to climate change and leading the clean energy revolution; and
WHEREAS, Fusion energy holds the promise potential of nearly limitless clean, safe, and firm energy, without producing air pollution, harmful emissions, or long-lasting nuclear waste; and
WHEREAS, The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to publish a draft rule by March 2025 that regulates fusion machines under a different framework than nuclear fission machines, based on the grounds that fusion facilities will may not have the potential to cause large radiation doses to workers or the public in accident scenarios and cannot produce runaway reactions; and
WHEREAS, California is the United States leader in fusion energy research and development, with more than 20,000 jobs throughout the fusion research and development ecosystem; and
WHEREAS, California hosts public sector fusion research and development programs facilities under the direction of the United States Department of Energy at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the National Ignition Facility, Sandia National Laboratories, the Stanford Linear Accelerator, and the DIII-D National Fusion Facility; Energy; and
WHEREAS, The DIII-D National Fusion Facility tokamak nuclear fusion facility in San Diego is the largest and most productive magnetic fusion energy research facility in the United States, and has made significant advancements in the pursuit of fusion energy, including its 202324 two-year research campaign, which successfully achieved a combination of high density and high confinement that had never previously been achieved simultaneously and fulfils fulfills a key requirement of fusion energy production; and
WHEREAS, The National Ignition Facility ignition nuclear fusion facility in Livermore achieved the first controlled fusion ignition in a laboratory setting in December 2022 and has successfully repeated ignition with higher fusion yields at least five times; and
WHEREAS, California companies are the largest share of industry partners for ITER (Latin for the way), an unprecedented international collaboration of 35 different nations working to design, construct, and assemble a reactor-scale burning plasma experiment that can demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy, and are supplying key components, including the central solenoid, which is the most powerful superconducting electromagnet in the world and will drive ITERs plasmas; and
WHEREAS, Californias public sector fusion research programs have received more than $5,000,000 to advance cutting-edge fusion research; and
WHEREAS, California is a leader in fusion energy academic programs, with nationally recognized programs at the University of Californias campuses at Berkeley, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Riverside, and robust programs at universities, polytechnic universities, colleges, and vocational schools throughout the state; and
WHEREAS, California is home to one-third of all United States private fusion energy companies working to commercialize fusion, with total global investments exceeding $8 billion; and
WHEREAS, Substantial technical progress has been made in multiple fusion energy pathways and with diverse fuels, including, but not limited to, deuterium-tritium, hydrogen-boron, and deuterium-helium-3; and
WHEREAS, Commercially scaled fusion energy could have a global economic impact of approximately $40 trillion; and
WHEREAS, California enacted Assembly Bill 1172 of the Regular Session of the Legislature (Chapter 360 of the Statutes of 2023), requiring the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Energy Commission to assess the potential for fusion energy to contribute to the states energy supply as part of the 2027 Integrated Energy Policy Report, including identifying the necessary regulatory and policy actions required to deploy fusion energy; and
WHEREAS, The United States Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committees long-range plan, Powering the Future: Fusion & Plasmas, calls for constructing the first United States fusion pilot plant in the 2030s; 2040s; and
WHEREAS, The United States Department of Energys decadal strategy, Fusion Energy Strategy 2024, calls for closing science and technology gaps to a commercially relevant fusion pilot plant, preparing the path to sustainable, equitable commercial fusion deployment, and building and leveraging external partnerships to achieve fusion at the fastest possible timescale; and
WHEREAS, The United States Department of Energy published a Request for Information in July 2024 soliciting input for a Fusion Energy Public-Private Consortium Framework, with the goal of accelerating fusion energy research, development, demonstration, and deployment by amplifying federal funding with state, local government, private, and philanthropic funding sources, to meet the goals of the decadal strategy; and
WHEREAS, More than 35 organizations, including 25 based in California, submitted a joint response to the Request for Information under the name of The Pacific Coalition for Advancing Research, Education, Science, and Technology for Fusion Energy (Pacific CREST Fusion), presenting a vision for positioning California as the leader of the United States fusion energy field; and
WHEREAS, On January 22, 2025, the Board of Regents of the University of Californias Office of the President unanimously approved establishing the Pacific CREST Fusion Organization as a University of California led not-for-profit organization to advance fusion energy in California through public-private partnership; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the State of California celebrates the numerous contributions of public and private sector nuclear fusion organizations within California for advancing fusion energy research and redevelopment; development; and be it further
Resolved, That the State of California applauds recent scientific breakthroughs at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility and the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; advances in magnetic fusion energy and inertial confinement at public research facilities in San Diego and Livermore; and be it further
Resolved, That the State of California recognizes the vast potential of fusion energy for addressing key climate and national security goals and the contributions of Californias private fusion industry; and be it further
Resolved, That the State of California commends the University of Californias Office of the President for its leadership in establishing the Pacific CREST Fusion initiative; and be it further
Resolved, That the State of California supports developing the fusion energy ecosystem, including the future workforce and supply chain required to advance fusion research, development, demonstration, and deployment, with the goal of siting a first-of-a-kind fusion pilot plant in California by the 2030s. 2040s.