Pacific Fusion officially lands in New Mexico, launching Los Lunas build center

LOS LUNAS — The grand opening of Pacific Fusion’s first build center brought “out the child” in Los Lunas Mayor Charles Griego. 

“To explore, to understand what can be happening — is ‘Star Trek’ really true?” Griego joked to dozens of public and private officials. 

The build center, located in Los Morros Business Park, officially opened last week. The facility will create the components for Pacific Fusion’s demonstration system, which will be housed at its $1 billion Mesa del Sol research and manufacturing campus.

 The California-based company is looking to commercialize nuclear fusion energy and make it more affordable. Pacific Fusion’s demonstration system aims to achieve net facility gain — exuding more energy than what was put in — by 2030. 

Carrie von Muench, Pacific Fusion co-founder and chief operating officer, said the company is looking to hire for various roles now. She estimates the build center will have 100 full-time employees by the end of 2026. 

“Schedule is cost, and the faster you go, the more quickly you can build something that really matters,” von Muench said. 

The build center, previously a Merillat Cabinetry manufacturing site, still needs to have infrastructure installed and some building modifications done before component work can begin, von Muench said. Officials did not disclose the costs associated with the 200,000-square-foot build center. 

The center’s opening follows Pacific Fusion’s selection of Albuquerque’s Mesa del Sol for its massive research and manufacturing campus in September. That facility is expected to come online in 2027, company officials have said. 

At the Los Lunas build center, jobs span manufacturing and ground support engineers, inventory specialists and managerial roles, according to company job postings. 

Griego said the build center’s opening creates a pathway for young people in the area.

“We have (to) provide an economic future for our high school students, our college students,” Griego said. “For so many years, we’ve lost population in New Mexico. We lost our best and brightest — we want to keep them here.”