Policy Opportunities to Meet U.S. Fusion Workforce Demands

This paper seeks to provide information on what types of interventions would be necessary to accelerate the development of a fusion workforce in the United States, both to support academic and national laboratories and to meet the decadal timelines of fusion companies in the United States. First, it provides information on the current public-funded landscape for workforce development in the United States and compares this with known programs in Europe, United Kingdom, and China. Finally, it provides information on the expected workforce needs in the United States for fusion energy across the various stages of deployment. Next, it introduces past U.S. federal policies that have been enacted in response to enhance workforce development. This information forms the basis for the policy interventions to allow the United States to lead fusion energy development.