As global big tech companies including Nvidia enter research combining digital technology with nuclear fusion, Korea has officially joined the competition for next-generation energy technology leadership by launching development of a "virtual fusion reactor" platform through 2030.
With power demand surging due to the proliferation of artificial intelligence data centers, the strategy aims to precisely implement costly fusion reactors in virtual space to verify design and operation, thereby reducing development time and costs. As fusion technology standards remain in their early stages, whoever first establishes benchmarks for design and operational methods is expected to gain market leadership.
According to industry sources on the 22nd, the Ministry of Science and ICT is pursuing the "AI-based Digital Virtual Fusion Reactor Platform Development Project" worth 46 billion won ($32.4 million) from this year through 2030. The strategy involves implementing fusion reactors in virtual space using digital twin technology to simulate structural design and operating conditions, while applying AI to automate research and verification processes.
The project will develop technology to verify structural design, thermal loads, and operational scenarios in virtual environments by replicating actual fusion reactor conditions in digital space. A key goal is securing intelligent operation technology that analyzes plasma states in real-time and enables AI to suggest or automatically execute optimal control strategies.
"Using a digital-based virtual platform allows us to identify problems in advance and rapidly iterate design and verification," a ministry official explained. "The core purpose of this project is to accelerate commercialization timelines by shortening development periods."
Fusion power generation converts energy released when hydrogen nuclei fuse into helium into electricity. Called an "artificial sun" because it mirrors how the sun produces light and heat, fusion is considered the ultimate clean energy as it uses deuterium extracted from seawater and produces virtually no long-term radioactive waste. Fusion has regained attention as a promising alternative as AI infrastructure expansion increases the importance of stable 24-hour power supply.
Achieving fusion reactions on Earth requires maintaining ultra-high-temperature plasma above 100 million degrees Celsius. However, once demonstration reactors are built, structural changes become virtually impossible, requiring enormous time and investment. This has driven rapid adoption of digital-based approaches to verify design and operation in virtual environments before constructing actual devices.
Nvidia announced plans earlier this year to apply digital engineering technology to Commonwealth Fusion Systems' SPARC demonstration reactor in partnership with Siemens, and publicly unveiled a digital twin recreation of the national fusion facility operated by General Atomics. Google is developing an AI model for autonomous fusion device operation using DeepMind technology, alongside its investment in CFS.
Unlike the United States, multiple countries including those in Europe and Japan continue pursuing fusion development centered on government-led research infrastructure. The European Union conducts integrated modeling research for ITER and the next-generation demonstration reactor (DEMO) through EUROfusion, its joint research consortium. Japan verifies next-generation fusion reactor operation technology by combining experiments and simulations using JT-60SA, built as a complementary facility to ITER.
Global experts have projected fusion commercialization for the 2040s-2050s, but AI-based design and simulation technologies are accelerating research, raising possibilities of achieving this by the 2030s. With technical standards and data systems not yet established, methodology for design and accumulated operational experience in early stages are considered key variables that will determine industry dynamics.
Korea is also accelerating commercialization preparations based on over 30 years of research experience from operating KSTAR, its superconducting fusion research device. The government is pursuing a 1.5 trillion won ($1.06 billion) project for core technology development and advanced demonstration research infrastructure, while nearly doubling the 2026 fusion R&D budget compared to the previous year.