Fusion startup cuts fuel pellet manufacturing from a week to hours

Inertia Enterprises says it can manufacture inertial confinement fusion fuel pellets in two to three hours, down from a week or more at the National Ignition Facility. Crystal growth, the key bottleneck, now takes about 30 minutes versus up to a week. The company, which raised a $450 million Series A in February 2026, says this is the first of ten engineering barriers to a commercial fusion plant.