The Future with Hannah Fry · Series 1 · Episode 4
The Future with Hannah Fry, Nuclear Fusion: what the evidence says about nuclear fusion
What the episode covers, where nuclear fusion stands on the 311 Starburst and what leaders should take from it.
What it covers
About the episode
The episode looks at the race to build nuclear fusion power, the long-promised source of clean energy, and asks whether it can arrive in time to matter.
- Broadcaster
- Bloomberg Originals; BBC Two and BBC iPlayer (UK, 2026)
- Made by
- Bloomberg Media with Windfall Films
- Distributed by
- TVF International
- Episode
- Series 1, episode 4
Official episode page (Bloomberg Originals; BBC Two and BBC iPlayer (UK, 2026)) · More about the series
What the evidence says
Where nuclear fusion stands in 2026
The 311 Starburst maps when each emerging technology and trend is expected to reach wide use. These are the entries that match this subject, with their status today.
- Technology · EnergyFusion
Fusion power joins small atoms together, as the Sun does, to release heat that makes electricity. Working power plants are still being developed.
- Expected wide use
- 2065
- Status in 2026
- Watch
- Readiness
- TRL 5 of 9
- Technology · EnergyFusion-Fission Hybrid Reactors
A fusion-fission hybrid reactor uses a burst of fusion to power a nuclear blanket. It could burn nuclear waste and make new fuel. It is still experimental.
- Expected wide use
- 2070
- Status in 2026
- Watch
- Readiness
- TRL 3 of 9
- Trend · TechnologicalNuclear Fusion Baseload Power
- Expected wide use
- 2050
- Status in 2026
- Watch
- Trend · Energy & ResourcesGreen Energy Transition
- Expected wide use
- 2025
- Status in 2026
- Act now
Source: the 311 Starburst, researched by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit (data built 2026-10-28). Status rings: Act now means wide use by 2027, Prepare 2028 to 2030, Explore 2031 to 2035, Watch 2036 or later. Explore the Starburst Centre.
311 analysis
What leaders should take from it
- Do not build a decarbonisation plan that depends on fusion: the evidence puts commercial fusion power decades away.
- Watch the fusion supply chain (magnets, materials, lasers), where spin-off markets will appear long before power plants.
- Act on the energy transition with technologies that work today and keep fusion as a long-range option.
Analysis by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit.
Next steps
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Answers
Common questions
When will nuclear fusion power homes?
Not soon. The 311 Starburst expects wide use of fusion in 2065 and places it, and fusion baseload power, in its Watch ring.
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