EVERETT, Wash. – April 7, 2026 – Helion, a Washington-based fusion energy company, announced today the first-round of 2026 awards under its Helion External Research Collaboration for Universities, Labs, and Enterprise Scientists (HERCULES) program, granting funding to 25 proposals across 20 institutions in the United States and United Kingdom. Awardees include leading universities, national laboratories, and private companies advancing breakthrough materials, magnet systems, diagnostics, and enabling technologies integral to scaling commercial fusion energy.

“The deployment of fusion electricity at scale requires innovation across many domains,” said Michael Hua, Senior Director of Nuclear Science at Helion. “Through HERCULES, we’re partnering with world-class researchers to solve some of the most demanding engineering challenges in energy. The more people and programs we have working on these problems, the faster we get to globally deployed fusion energy.”

With more than $17 million committed through 2028, HERCULES-funded projects directly address unique materials and systems challenges, enabling critical innovations in durability, efficiency, manufacturability, and cost reduction for Helion’s long-term commercial fusion operations.  

The HERCULES program was designed to strengthen both the technical foundation and industry partnerships required to move from first-of-a-kind plants to scalable, repeatable global deployment while creating opportunities for students and researchers to engage directly with real-world commercialization challenges.

The next phase of applications will open in mid-2026, for funding up to $500,000. Updates and timelines will be published to: www.helionenergy.com/HERCULES

The full list of awardees:

AwareAbility Technologies

Modular SiC Neutron Flux Monitor for Use with Helion G7 Fusion Accelerator

Florida State University  

Copper- silver Alloys for Resistive MAgnets- CARMA

Idaho National Laboratory

Accelerating Helion’s Fusion Innovation: A Rapid Evaluation Framework for Plasma-Facing Components

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

1) Fusion Flight Simulator: An open-source operator-training platform for fusion systems

2) Modelling neutron damage effects on hydrogen retention in materials

Michigan State University

Development of Ultra-Fast Fiber-Optic Neutron Detectors

Nalu Scientific

RF-SoC Architecture for Pulse Identification and Detection Using DIAMOND Detectors

North Carolina State University

Establishing Thermal Desorption Capabilities for Hydrogen Retention Studies in Dielectric Materials

The Ohio State University

Diamond Quantum Sensors for Radiation-Hardened Miniature Neutron Dosimetry

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

1) Fabrication and testing of MegaMag plates via Solid Phase Processing  

2) High Temperature Corrosion/Erosion Msemat Monitoring For Fusion Reactor Plasma-Facing Components

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

High-Fidelity Numerical Characterizations of Anomalous Transport in high-B FRC Plasmas via Full-orbit delta-f Particle-In-Cell Simulations

Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc.

HEO for Radiation-hard, structural insulators

Texas A&M University

CLEOPATRA: Cooling puLsEd cOpPer mAgnets wiTh supeRcritical gAseous Fluids - Phase 1 – Exploratory Study

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

High dpa irradiation and characterisation of SiC and SiC/SiC composites

University of California, Berkeley

1) Radiation Damage Studies for Scintillator-Based Diagnostics in High Flux Environments

2) Understanding fusion-like neutron damage in SiC

3) Understanding plasma interaction on SiC

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

Ceramic First-wall Materials and Tunable Composite Shielding

University of Maine

Investigation of Acoustic Wave Sensors for Fusion Applications

University of Michigan

1) Enabling SiC and SiC/SiC Components for Helion Fusion Devices: High-Dose Radiation Effects and Predictive Modeling

2) Plasma-Surface Interaction Modeling and Validation for Edge Biasing and Pre-Ionization

University of New Mexico

Ion irradiation and mechanical testing of ARB processed Cu/X (X=Fe, Nb) composites

University of Washington

Characterizing plasma-wall interactions using hydrogen and helium in the 10-60 keV range

Washington State University

Engineered Grain Boundaries and Microstructures for SiC Plasma Facing Components

About Helion

Helion is a fusion energy company focused on generating zero-carbon electricity from fusion. Its mission is to build the world’s first fusion power plant, enabling a future with unlimited clean electricity. To keep up with the latest progress, follow Helion on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and X.

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