Bill Gates is building an ‘artificial sun’ that could replace coal in the US

The old coal plant is gone. Something very different is planned in its place. The twin smokestacks of the Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton, Tennessee, were demolished after more than six decades. That coal plant used fossil fuels to generate electricity. Now the same site is being prepared for a fusion energy project. On January 29, 2026, Type One Energy, a Bill Gates-backed nuclear fusion company, submitted its first major licensing application to state regulators. The company is working with the Tennessee Valley Authority, known as TVA. The project is called Infinity One.

Bill Gates-backed Infinity One aims to recreate the power of the Sun with a 100 million-degree fusion reactor

Infinity One is not a traditional nuclear plant. It is a fusion reactor. Fusion is the process that powers the Sun. Instead of splitting atoms like today’s nuclear fission plants, fusion joins light atoms together. When that happens, it releases large amounts of energy.The exact model Type One Energy intends to build is known as a stellarator. A stellarator is a device that utilises very strong magnetic fields to keep plasma, which is heated to extreme temperatures, in a confined space. Plasma is a gas that has been heated to such a high temperature that it becomes a sort of fourth state of matter. In a fusion reactor, the plasma needs to be heated to a temperature of approximately 100 million degrees Celsius. At such high temperatures, atoms have the ability to fuse.Perhaps you have come across tokamaks, which are basically doughnut-shaped fusion machines being developed by other nations. A stellarator essentially serves the same function as a tokamak but differs in its design. Instead of a simple ring shape, it makes use of twisted, finely engineered magnetic coils. These are intended to maintain the plasma in a stable state for extended periods of time. Tokamaks can struggle with stability problems. Stellarators aim to reduce those issues, though they are harder to build.

Fusion project follows new US regulatory framework

The licensing step announced in Tennessee is important. In 2023, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission decided that fusion energy systems would not be regulated like traditional nuclear power plants. Instead, they would fall under the byproduct materials framework. This is the same system used for particle accelerators and medical radiation facilities. It reflects the view that fusion carries lower risks than fission.Type One Energy, TVA and Tennessee state regulators say they have worked together since early 2024 to prepare this first application. It is meant to show that the design meets safety and environmental standards.If approved and built, Infinity One would become Tennessee’s first commercial fusion project. It would also mark a shift from coal powered electricity at the Bull Run site to an experimental, next generation energy system. The plant is still in the early stages. The direction is changing.