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Nuclear fusion has long been pursued as a clean, safe, and limitless energy source, though commercial viability remains distant. Despite this, fusion research has spurred technological innovations with broad applications beyond energy production—a phenomenon known as technological spillover. Key among these advances are high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets, essential for plasma confinement in fusion reactors. Companies like Tokamak Energy have developed improved ultra-compact insulation technology for these magnets, now being used in more efficient, smaller magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines. Similarly, advanced cryogenic systems designed to keep HTS magnets near absolute zero have found uses in vaccine transport, satellite thermal stabilization, and quantum computer cooling. The military sector is also exploring HTS magnets for silent submarine propulsion in collaboration with agencies like DARPA.
Materials research is another critical fusion challenge, with projects such as the European IFMIF-DONES aiming to develop materials that withstand extreme fusion conditions. These materials have wider implications for aerospace, turbines, and solar technologies. Fusion-driven innovations extend to autonomous robotics for hazardous environments, AI systems capable of processing vast data streams in real-time, and high-energy lasers improving medical therapies and imaging. These spillovers represent strategic industrial opportunities, positioning Europe to leverage fusion-related technologies for leadership in various sectors well before fusion power becomes commercially available.
Although the long-awaited energy revolution is still far from reaching the electricity grid, it is already generating technological advances with unexpected applications.
For decades, nuclear fusion has been a frustrated ambition of energy science: a clean, safe and inexhaustible source. Although its commercial use is still far from being reached, its development is driving advances that already have an impact outside the energy sector. This transfer of knowledge is known as technological spillover: solutions designed to face the extreme challenges of fusion that find immediate applications in other areas.
One of the most significant advances comes from the development of high-temperature superconducting magnets (HTS), essential for confining plasma in tokamak-type reactors. The English company Tokamak Energy has designed a new Ultra Compact Insulation technology that improves the power and stability of these magnets. His spin-off startup TE Magnetics, launched in 2024, is already commercializing these magnets for use in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, enabling smaller, more efficient, and more accessible equipment. The first large-scale testbed, Demo4, will be activated in the second half of 2025.
The operational maintenance of HTS magnets requires advanced cryogenic systems, capable of maintaining temperatures close to absolute zero. Companies such as General Atomics (USA) Gauss Fusion (USA) and Gauss Fusion (Germany) have developed these technologies for fusion reactors, but their application goes further. In fact, these solutions are being adapted to
The versatility of HTS magnets has also attracted the attention of the military sector. In 2025, Tokamak Energy announced a collaboration with DARPA (US defense agency) to develop silent propulsion systems for submarines, a completely different application from the energy context, but with the same physical foundations.
One of the challenges of fusion is finding materials capable of withstanding extreme temperatures and intense neutron fluxes. The European project IFMIF-DONES, based in Granada, is designed precisely for this purpose. The materials developed here will not only be used for fusion reactors, but also for aeronautics, industrial turbines and concentrated solar technology. The first stone of the complex was laid in May 2025 and contracts are already being signed with SMEs and local research centers.
Fusion reactors , on the other hand, require remote maintenance systems that operate in environments with high radiation and heat. This has driven the development of autonomous robotics applicable to rescue, space missions or industries dangerous to humans.
In addition, real-time plasma control has demanded new artificial intelligence architectures that can process millions of data per second. These solutions are being used in
Finally, the very high-energy lasers developed for inertial confinement in fusion (such as those of the NIF laboratory in the USA) have led to tools used in proton therapy, an oncological technique that is more precise and less invasive than conventional radiotherapy . They have also contributed to the advancement of medical imaging systems with better resolution and less impact on the patient.
As evidenced by the Future Trends Forum of the Bankinter Innovation Foundation, these technological spillovers are much more than side effects: they are a strategic platform for industrial innovation for Europe. As with the space program or CERN, the indirect benefits may come before the final goal and, although its use as an energy source is yet to come, fusion is already transforming entire sectors with its associated technologies. Thus, Europe can take advantage of this inertia to build industrial leadership before the first commercial reactor comes online.
