By Tim De Chant
Publication Date: 2026-01-06 16:30:00
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) said on Tuesday at CES 2026 that it had installed the first magnet in its Sparc fusion reactor, the demonstration device that it hopes to turn on next year.
The magnet is the first of 18 that, when the reactor is complete, will create a doughnut-like shape that will produce a powerful magnetic field to confine and compress superheated plasma. If all goes well, that plasma will release more energy than it takes to heat and compress it.
After decades of promise and delay, fusion power appears to be just around the corner — CFS and its competitors are locked in a race to deliver the first electrons to the grid sometime in the early 2030s. If it pans out, fusion power could unlock nearly limitless clean energy in a package that resembles a traditional power plant.
Key components of Sparc’s magnets have been completed, and the company expects to install all 18 by the end of the summer, said Bob Mumgaard, CFS’ co-founder and CEO. “It’ll go bang, bang, bang throughout the first half of this year as we put together this revolutionary technology.”
When installed, the D-shaped magnets will sit upright on a 24-foot wide, 75-ton stainless steel circle known as a cryostat, which was set in place last March. The magnets themselves weigh about 24 tons each and can generate a 20 tesla magnetic field, about 13 times…
