1c Fusion Energy

Introducing 1costingFE

The open-source engine behind our numbers

Jun 29 • 1cfe, Tal Rubin, Reid Westwood, Mallory Snowden, and Damien Scott

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From Papers to Plant Economics

Costing 38 Fusion Concepts in One Pipeline

Jun 10 • 1cfe, Mallory Snowden, Reid Westwood, and Tal Rubin

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May 2026

Space Sector vs. Fusion Sector: What the Analogy Teaches Us

1cFE systems engineer Mallory Snowden, drawing on 14 years in aerospace, compares the two sectors and what fusion can learn.

May 27 • 1cfe and Mallory Snowden

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Direct Energy Conversion for Fusion: Fuel, Confinement, and the Cost Question

DEC promises to skip the heat engine. Two architectures, modeled with free cores, show where that pays off and where it does not.

May 12 • 1cfe and Tal Rubin

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April 2026

Fusion's cost floor: what if the core were free?

An analysis of the more certain costs of a fusion power plant

Apr 8 • 1cfe and Tal Rubin

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March 2026

The Unsolved Engineering Behind Fusion Power

Plasma confinement gets the headlines. Three engineering problems between the plasma and the grid will determine whether D-T fusion can compete on cost.

Mar 27 • 1cfe and Mallory Snowden

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Searching the Fusion Design Space Systematically

How we use formal models and automated checks to search the fusion design space systematically

Mar 11 • Reid Westwood and 1cfe

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February 2026

Introducing 1cFE

1cFE is a research effort at the Astera Institute exploring a specific question: what must be true for fusion energy to reach a levelized cost of…

Feb 25 • Damien Scott and 1cfe

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