Governor Tony Evers toured the University of Wisconsin–Madison nuclear reactor on Tuesday to see firsthand how the campus is advancing nuclear energy research. The visit follows a new state partnership to study nuclear power opportunities in Wisconsin.
Evers looked over the reactor control panel with student operator Nick Tierney, a senior majoring in nuclear engineering. He then climbed stairs to view the reactor’s cooling pool from above. Later, he met with graduate students and Assistant Professor Stephanie Diem to learn about their work on the Pegasus-III fusion experiment.
The visit came one week after Evers announced a partnership between the state’s Public Service Commission and the UW–Madison Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics. Paul Wilson, Grainger Professor of nuclear engineering and department chair, will direct the study, which will also involve students and faculty in geography, science communications, and law.
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Wisconsin currently has only one operating nuclear power plant, the Point Beach Nuclear Plant in Two Rivers. However, steps to expand nuclear energy in the state have received bipartisan support in the legislature during its 2025-26 session.
The university conducts research in both nuclear fission and fusion. Fission splits atoms to release energy and has powered commercial plants since the 1950s. Fusion combines atoms like the sun does and is seen as a long-term goal for clean energy.
UW–Madison has studied fusion plasma physics since the 1960s. Four fusion experiments operate on campus, with another under construction. Researchers also run a fusion project at the university’s Physical Sciences Lab in nearby Stoughton.
Three fusion companies have spun out of campus labs: Realta Fusion, Type One Energy, and SHINE Technologies. The university is also the founding partner of the Great Lakes Fusion Energy Alliance, a public-private effort to grow the fusion industry in the Midwest.
The UW Nuclear Reactor has operated since 1961. It is about one three-thousandth the size of a commercial reactor but is still large for a university facility. About 30 such reactors operate at universities across the country.
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The reactor provides valuable training for students, who can become licensed operators and enter the job market with a unique credential. Companies also contract with the reactor to test materials and generate small quantities of isotopes for research.
Commercial fusion energy remains aspirational, but researchers continue working on fundamental plasma physics, materials development, and manufacturing technologies. They also inform public policy around expanding the nation’s nuclear energy options.
