Ignition is no longer a one-off
The US National Ignition Facility first achieved fusion ignition in 2022 and has repeated ignition multiple times. In June 2026 it reported another shot producing 7.9 megajoules of fusion energy from about 2.08 megajoules delivered to the target.
Why that is a historic result
For inertial-confinement fusion, getting more fusion energy out of the fuel capsule than laser energy reaching it demonstrates a key physical threshold: a burning plasma can substantially heat itself.
Why the wall plug still loses
NIF’s lasers and supporting facility consume far more electrical energy than reaches the target. The system was built for stockpile stewardship and physics, not high-efficiency repetitive electricity generation.
Magnetic fusion has a different milestone
ITER aims for a plasma gain of Q=10—500 megawatts of fusion power from 50 megawatts of injected heating—but ITER itself is an experimental device and will not sell electricity to the grid.
What a power plant still needs
A commercial system must sustain or rapidly repeat reactions, breed or supply fuel, survive neutron damage, extract heat, maintain components, reach high availability and generate electricity at competitive cost.
Research record
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory — achieving fusion ignitionNational laboratory · open sourceITER — how fusion power gain is quantifiedITER · open sourceHas Fusion Power Finally Become an Energy Source?
Direct answer: Fusion has crossed important scientific thresholds, including repeatable ignition and target gain. It has not yet crossed the whole-system threshold of producing commercial net electricity.
Physics milestone achieved; energy industry not yet achieved.