Who should lead nuclear fusion research? : cross-national evidence on public–private governance preferences in Europe

Giacometti, Alessio (author), Oltra, Christian (author), Bustreo, Chiara (author), Turcanu, Catrinel (author), Stankiewicz, Piotr (author), Meskens, Gaston (author), Čok, Vanja (author), Prades, Ana (author), Pellegrini-Masini, Giuseppe (author), Orlando, Maria Teresa (author)

Nuclear fusion research is experiencing unprecedented momentum, driven by public investment and a surge in private start-ups claiming to accelerate commercialization distinct from government-led initiatives. This shift towards private leadership is a new dynamic, yet its implications for public perception and social acceptance have been largely overlooked. This study addresses that critical gap using exploratory findings from a large-scale, cross-national survey in 21 European countries (N = 19,144). We analyzed public preferences for who should lead fusion research and used multinomial logistic regression to identify associated demographic and trust-related factors. Results show a clear public consensus favoring a collaborative model: an overwhelming majority (74 %) believe governments and private companies should be equally involved. In contrast, only 20 % prefer a government-led model and just 6 % a private-led one. The regression analysis reveals that being of older age and female gender is associated with a higher likelihood of preferring this collaborative approach. Furthermore, higher trust in scientists is linked to a lower preference for private-sector leadership. This study provides the first large-scale empirical evidence of public preferences for fusion governance, highlighting a potential misalignment between the industry's push for privatization and the public's desire for collaboration. We discuss these findings by drawing on literature regarding anti-industry sentiment and public skepticism towards the powerful institutions controlling new technologies. The findings suggest citizens desire a balance of strengths, viewing neither the state nor private firms as solely trustworthy to manage the quest for fusion energy.

• Language: English
• Keywords: fusion energy, private fusion, public-private partnerships, science governance, social acceptability, public attitudes
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FS - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: 10 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 130, [article no.] 104458
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-176183
• UDC: 620.9:316
• ISSN on article: 2214-6326
• DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104458
• COBISS.SI-ID: 258408451
• Publication date in RUL: 24.11.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Energy research & social science
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 2214-6326
• COBISS.SI-ID: 527289881

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Description: The most restrictive Creative Commons license. This only allows people to download and share the work for no commercial gain and for no other purposes.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: fuzijska energija, zasebna fuzija, javno-zasebna partnerstva, upravljanje znanosti, družbena sprejemljivost, odnos javnosti

Projects

• Funder: EC - European Commission
• Project number: 101052200
• Name: Implementation of activities described in the Roadmap to Fusion during Horizon Europe through a joint programme of the members of the EUROfusion consortium
• Acronym: EUROfusion