Israeli fusion company nT-Tao and US nuclear developer Orion Nuclear Energy Corporation have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore deploying nT-Tao’s compact fusion power system at sites across the United States.
The collaboration will focus on identifying potential customers, evaluating sites and developing commercial projects around nT-Tao’s Compact Fusion System. The system is designed to provide up to 20 megawatts of continuous electricity from a compact footprint.
The companies are targeting data centers, industrial facilities and other users that require large amounts of reliable power. The approach is aimed at placing generation directly at customer sites instead of relying entirely on new grid infrastructure.
Under the agreement, Orion will support project development, including finding potential customers and power offtakers, evaluating sites, structuring financing and working with utilities and regulators. nT-Tao will provide the fusion technology, system design and development roadmap.
Fusion targets on-site power
The Compact Fusion System is based on nT-Tao’s MEGA, or Modular Energy Generator Architecture, pulsed-power platform. The company says the system is being engineered for manufacturability and scalable deployment.
“AI-driven data centers and other high-load industries are running into real limits on how quickly and reliably they can secure new power, and that pressure is only building,” said Rear Admiral (Ret.) Oded Gour-Lavie, Co-Founder and CEO of nT-Tao. “Fusion is still a developing technology, and every milestone matters on the path to commercial reality.”
The system’s proposed 20 MW output puts it between the scale of some microreactor concepts and larger small modular https://interestingengineering.com/energy/deep-fission-youngquist-brothers-one-mile-reactorprojects. Orion said this size could fit the power requirements of customers that need firm electricity directly at their facilities.
“A technology that will eventually deploy commercially needs a development pathway built long before it is ready – sites, offtakers, financing structures, and early regulatory engagement. That is the work we are beginning with nT-Tao,” said John Aycoth, Chairman and CEO of Orion Nuclear Energy Corporation.
Fusion system moves toward deployment
The partnership does not represent a commercial deployment yet. The companies plan to identify a limited number of potential US projects for further evaluation following the signing of the MoU.
nT-Tao’s fusion system also remains under active development. Its C3 prototype reached operational status and achieved first plasma in January 2026. In September, the company deployed a new 50 MW pulsed-power subsystem, a five-fold increase in power capability built on its MEGA platform.
The higher-power subsystem is intended to help advance the C3 prototype toward its next temperature milestone. The company is using the technical progress from the C3 program as it develops the larger Compact Fusion System.
For Orion, the collaboration adds fusion to its portfolio of advanced nuclear and energy projects. The company is already developing advanced nuclear projects alongside data centers and industrial loads across six US states.
The next step will be to identify potential customers and sites where nT-Tao’s 20 MW system could eventually be evaluated for deployment. Any commercial projects would still require further technical development, financing, site work and regulatory engagement.