RTX Ventures has invested in laser fusion company Xcimer Energy to develop pulsed-laser technology for potential use in US military directed-energy systems.

The collaboration brings together two applications that share a fundamental engineering challenge: building powerful lasers that can fire repeatedly, reliably and affordably.

Xcimer is developing excimer laser technology for its fusion power system. The company says the same approach could provide the performance and scalability needed for directed-energy weapons, potentially offering longer-range capability than existing systems.

RTX’s investment is also intended to support Xcimer’s fusion program. In June, the US Department of Energy approved Xcimer’s fusion pilot power plant design under its Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program.

One laser, two missions

Laser fusion works by using intense laser pulses to compress and heat fuel until it reaches conditions where nuclear fusion can occur. The challenge is developing lasers that can deliver these pulses repeatedly while keeping energy consumption, maintenance, and operating costs under control.

Those same requirements matter for military laser systems. A directed-energy weapon must deliver enough energy to engage a target while remaining efficient and reliable enough for repeated use. Xcimer says its excimer-based system is designed around those requirements.

“As the United States accelerates the development of next-generation air defense, the need for affordable and scalable directed energy systems has never been more urgent,” said Conner Galloway, co-founder, CEO and Chief Science Officer at Xcimer. “Our excimer-based laser technology offers the performance, speed and inherent scalability needed at a fraction of the cost and complexity of today’s systems.”

The partnership will now examine how the laser technology could be integrated and containerized into RTX defense systems.

That could be important because one of the challenges facing directed-energy weapons is making them practical outside laboratory environments. Systems must fit into deployable platforms while generating enough power to engage threats.

Fusion technology enters air defense

RTX brings experience in sensing, command and control, and air-defense systems to the partnership. The company says those capabilities could help integrate Xcimer’s laser technology into future defense platforms.

“We believe Xcimer’s pulsed-laser technology lines up perfectly with our expertise in areas like advanced sensing, command and control and air defense,” said RTX Chief Technology Officer Juan de Bedout. “Together we will explore how we can best integrate these technologies into advanced, scalable defense systems able to defeat a range of new and evolving threats.”

Xcimer is pursuing commercial fusion power alongside the defense work. The company expects its fusion technology to begin delivering electricity to the grid by the mid-2030s.

The dual-use development could give the laser technology two potential markets: commercial fusion energy and military directed-energy systems.

For now, the RTX-Xcimer agreement is focused on exploring integration and development rather than announcing an operational weapon. The companies will need to demonstrate that the laser can meet the demanding requirements of a deployable defense system while maintaining the efficiency, reliability, and scalability needed for repeated operation.

Louisiana could add 5 GW of new power through a three-project plan combining natural gas, battery storage and advanced nuclear reactors.

The portfolio is designed to serve growing electricity demand from data centers, advanced manufacturing and other industrial users. Rather than relying on one generation source, the plan spreads the capacity across three projects with different roles and development timelines.

Project Cayman would provide the largest share, with 2.88 GW of natural-gas generation and battery storage. The project could also include a data-center technology campus, giving large customers access to dispatchable power close to their operations.

Project Barracuda would add another 1.2 GW of natural-gas generation, along with 300 MW/1.2 GWh of battery storage. The planned energy park could support up to 1 GW of critical data-center IT capacity, creating a dedicated power and computing hub.

Project Amberjack takes a different route. It is being developed as a standalone small modular reactor campus targeting up to 1 GW of advanced nuclear generation.

Three technologies, three roles

The projects are intended to address different parts of the power challenge. Gas generation would provide dispatchable electricity, batteries would help manage demand and storage, and nuclear power would provide a longer-term source of steady generation.

Cayman has already secured site control through a binding letter of intent. Its development would proceed in phases based on customer demand, fuel availability, utility requirements, environmental reviews, permitting, and financing.

Barracuda is also being planned in stages. Its generation, storage, and data-center components could be expanded as customer demand develops.

Amberjack is at an earlier stage. The project has site control, but the company still needs to conduct technical and environmental studies before determining the reactor technology and final plant configuration.

“The Louisiana trilogy offers three distinct, complementary solutions to answer America’s soaring power demand,” said Richard Taylor, CEO of ONE Nuclear. “Cayman delivers scale, Barracuda connects dedicated power with digital infrastructure, and Amberjack creates a disciplined path toward advanced nuclear power.”

The combined planning targets amount to approximately 4.08 GW of natural-gas generation from Cayman and Barracuda, plus up to 1 GW of nuclear capacity from Amberjack.

Those numbers are not yet guaranteed generation capacity. The projects still depend on final engineering, grid interconnection, permits, customer agreements, financing, and other development decisions.

Nuclear remains the longer bet

Amberjack is the most technically ambitious part of the portfolio. The proposed campus would use multiple small modular reactors, but the company has not yet selected a specific reactor technology.

Planned work includes geotechnical and environmental studies, cooling-water and logistics assessments, transmission analysis and discussions with potential technology vendors. The company also plans continued engagement with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and local communities.

“The Louisiana Portfolio is ambitious because Louisiana’s opportunity is extraordinary,” said Chris Hansmeyer, Chief Development Officer of ONE Nuclear. “These projects are complementary, but they are not dependent on one another. We can advance proven dispatchable generation and storage for near-term demand, purpose-built infrastructure for digital and industrial customers, and a rigorous, site-specific pathway for advanced nuclear power.”

The approach reflects a broader push to build power infrastructure around rapidly expanding data-center demand while keeping nuclear power in the mix as a longer-term option.

ONE Nuclear plans to hold a public information meeting in October 2026 to explain the projects, discuss environmental and infrastructure work, and gather community feedback. The three projects remain at different stages of development, and no commercial power generation has begun.

Deep Fission has successfully lowered a 20-foot reactor canister 100 feet underground and retrieved it using commercial drilling equipment, testing a key part of its plan to bury small nuclear reactors a mile below the surface.

The demonstration took place on September 3, when a commercial drilling and rigging crew lowered the full-size canister into a 34-inch-wide borehole. The crew aligned the canister at depth before bringing it back to the surface.

The test focused on whether the large reactor canister can be handled underground using equipment already available to drilling contractors. Deep Fission said the demonstration did not require equipment invented, custom-built, or adapted for nuclear service.

The canister was a full-size, non-nuclear replica of the vessel designed to house the company’s Gravity reactor core. It contained no nuclear fuel, so the test was aimed at validating the physical deployment and retrieval process rather than reactor operation.

Commercial drilling goes nuclear

“The most important thing about this demonstration is what we did not have to do,” said Liz Muller, CEO and Co-Founder of Deep Fission. “We did not have to develop new technology. We used a rig and rigging that is commercially available in the field today, and our reactor uses pressurized water technology that has been operating in the nuclear industry for decades.”

Deep Fission’s reactor concept combines established pressurized water reactor technology with an underground deployment system. The Gravity reactor would use standard low-enriched uranium fuel, while the company’s main change is to place the reactor deep underground.

The proposed reactor would sit in a water-filled borehole approximately one mile below the surface. Deep Fission says the water column and surrounding rock could provide containment, operating pressure, heat transfer, and emergency cooling.

That configuration could reduce the surface infrastructure normally associated with nuclear plants. Instead of constructing a large reactor facility above ground, the company’s model would shift much of the system underground.

The company believes this could simplify construction, reduce costs, and shorten deployment schedules while providing additional safety margins.

Mile-deep reactors face hurdles

The latest test does not demonstrate that a commercial reactor can operate underground. Deep Fission still has to validate the broader system, including drilling, reactor integration, regulatory requirements, and eventual commercial operation.

The company recently received approval from the US Department of Energy for its Nuclear Safety Design Agreement for the Gravity reactor. It is advancing the project under the DOE Reactor Pilot Program and is developing its first reactor project in Parsons, Kansas.

The underground approach is also intended to support deployment closer to customers that need reliable electricity. Deep Fission is targeting utilities, industrial customers, and data centers seeking low-carbon baseload power.

“Our innovation is in how we put proven pieces together, not in inventing something that has never been built. That is the difference between a science project and something you can deploy,” Muller said.

The company now needs to move from a mechanical demonstration to the much harder task of proving that its underground reactor design can meet engineering, safety, licensing, and commercial requirements.

Cities trying to add large power plants or battery storage facilities face a problem beyond grid capacity: finding a site that fits the surrounding community.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed an algorithm that helps utilities and planners identify locations for power generation and storage in urban areas.

Unlike conventional site-selection methods that mainly assess technical factors, the new approach also considers zoning rules, historical sites, architectural value, local economic priorities, and community preferences.

The tool combines these factors with a power-grid simulator to determine where an energy project could be placed and how large it should be. It can also account for changing energy policies and local priorities.

Cities face tighter power constraints

Urban regulations can significantly reduce the number of locations available for large energy projects. Zoning and noise restrictions alone can eliminate 20 to 30 percent of potential sites, according to researcher Rodney Itiki.

The algorithm is designed to prevent planners from choosing a technically suitable location that may be unacceptable to the people living or working nearby.

“The tool is revolutionary because previous study approaches were not considering the real world,” Itiki said. “They just started with a diagram of the energy system and picked a location based on that infrastructure, without incorporating the needs of the community.”

The system uses a weighting method to account for factors such as energy policy, local regulations, and input from grid planners, urban planners, and other stakeholders.

A city seeking to attract manufacturers, for example, could give greater weight to affordable electricity and new industrial jobs. Another area with data centers or military facilities could instead prioritize reliability and energy security.

The algorithm can then use those priorities to help determine the appropriate type, size, and location of an energy project.

Grid demand gets mapped hourly

The tool also accounts for how electricity demand changes throughout the day. It simulates grid demand and power flows over a 24-hour period, allowing planners to see how a proposed project could affect the network as electricity use changes.

That could be important in neighborhoods where demand rises sharply when residents return home and switch on appliances, heating or cooling systems.

The researchers said the approach can be used for different types of energy projects and updated as local policies change. That gives utilities a way to reassess potential sites rather than relying on a fixed set of assumptions.

The system is also intended to address situations where infrastructure competes with places that have historical, architectural or tourism value. A large battery installation, for example, may provide a strong technical solution but still be unsuitable beside a landmark or historic site.

Planning tool targets wider uses

The researchers believe the approach could eventually be used beyond energy infrastructure. Potential applications include selecting sites for critical-materials mining, data centers, disaster-response infrastructure and facilities needed for major international events such as the FIFA World Cup or Olympics.

The work was led by Itiki with researchers Suman Debnath and Qianxue Xia. It was funded by the DOE’s Integrated Energy Systems Office.

The study was published in Energies.