Politics
Helium-3 deuterium fusion produces enormous energy with minimal radioactive waste. The lunar surface holds an estimated one million metric tons. China has a documented extraction strategy. The United States does not have a public one.
NewsOnScale Staff
September 12, 2026
Helium-3 is a light isotope of helium. It is extraordinarily rare on Earth. It is abundant on the Moon — deposited over billions of years by solar wind into the lunar regolith at an estimated one million metric tons.
One metric ton of Helium-3 fused with deuterium produces approximately 19 megawatt-years of energy. One million metric tons is enough to power human civilization for thousands of years without carbon emissions, without radioactive waste, and without the geopolitical entanglements of fossil fuel supply chains.
China knows this. The United States government has been largely silent about it.
What Helium-3 Fusion Actually Is
Deuterium-Helium-3 fusion produces a proton and Helium-4 — neither radioactive. The reaction runs hotter and is harder to achieve than deuterium-tritium fusion but the energy output is enormous and the waste profile is dramatically cleaner.
The challenge is fuel. Helium-3 barely exists on Earth. The US Department of Energy produces approximately 8 kilograms per year as a byproduct of nuclear weapons maintenance. Global annual supply is estimated at 15 to 20 kilograms. The Moon has a million metric tons.
What China Is Doing
China has been explicit about its interest in lunar Helium-3 as a strategic energy resource. Chinese scientists have published research on Helium-3 extraction from lunar regolith since the 1990s. The China National Space Administration lunar exploration program has included Helium-3 resource mapping as a documented objective.
In January 2019 China became the first country to land on the far side of the Moon. In December 2020 China returned lunar samples to Earth. In 2024 China's Chang'e 6 mission returned samples from the lunar south pole region — an area considered particularly rich in Helium-3 deposits.
China has a documented funded active program to understand and eventually exploit lunar energy resources. It is published policy.
What the United States Is Doing
NASA's Artemis program has returned Americans to lunar orbit and plans a crewed lunar surface landing. Helium-3 resource extraction is not a stated Artemis priority.
The United States has no funded program specifically focused on Helium-3 extraction technology, no published national strategy for lunar energy resource development, and no policy framework for how lunar Helium-3 would be governed extracted or used if fusion technology matures.
Meanwhile the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieved nuclear fusion ignition in December 2022 — more energy released from fusion than laser energy input. The physics have been proven.
The energy source exists. The fusion technology is progressing. The supply is on the Moon. China understands what that means.
The Policy Gap
The United States spends approximately billion per year on net energy imports. The Iran conflict currently consuming hundreds of millions of dollars per day is inseparable from the Strait of Hormuz and its role in global oil supply chains.
A nation that develops Helium-3 fusion energy does not need the Strait of Hormuz. It does not need foreign oil. It does not need the military commitments that energy dependency requires.
That is not a technology fantasy. The physics are proven. The fuel is documented. The question is which nation develops the extraction and fusion capability first.
China has a strategy. The United States does not have a public one.
What a Real Energy Independence Policy Looks Like
Genuine energy independence requires thinking beyond the next election cycle. It means funding fusion research at the scale the technology's potential warrants. It means establishing a legal and policy framework for lunar resource extraction. It means treating Helium-3 as the strategic energy resource it is.
The legal foundation exists. The Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015 established that American citizens can own resources they extract from space. The Moon is not claimed by any nation under the Outer Space Treaty of 1967.
What is missing is the strategic will to treat Helium-3 as the generational energy opportunity it represents.
DISCLOSURE: NewsOnScale is an independent media publication operated by AMILLI AI CORP. JJ Johnson is the founder of AMILLI AI CORP and a declared candidate for President of the United States in 2028. His platform includes Helium-3 fusion energy development as a core energy independence policy. All scientific and policy facts in this article are drawn from published research NASA documentation and reporting by Space.com Scientific American and the National Ignition Facility.