The global market for carbon-carbon composites is already valued at $8.79 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $15.89 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual rate of 12.66%. Behind these figures lies a supply chain that nuclear energy — from fission to fusion, from conventional reactors to SMRs — is driving with increasing force.
High-performance carbon-based materials, led by carbon fibers and C/C composites, withstand temperatures exceeding 2,000°C, maintain structural integrity under extreme stress, and endure neutron irradiation without rapid degradation. These properties make them natural candidates for internal components in high-temperature reactors, first-wall elements in fusion reactors, and cooling systems in next-generation plants. Unlike conventional graphite, C/C composites allow microstructure and mechanical properties to be tailored to specific applications — an advantage that researchers have been exploiting for decades, but one that is only now finding industrial-scale demand.
On the fusion front, the signals are even more direct. BJS Composites, a German manufacturer of silicon matrix ceramic materials, has seen growing demand for pumping applications in nuclear fusion facilities. According to co-founder Jutta Schull, SiC/SiC components — thanks to their thermal resistance and radiation damage tolerance — could double the electrical output of fusion reactors. If confirmed at scale, this would fundamentally reshape the economic case for the entire technology. Applications in SMRs — small modular reactors — are equally concrete: KULR Technology has already secured licenses to apply its carbon fiber-based technologies to both laser fusion systems and modular reactors, with a focus on the Japanese and broader Asian markets.
China’s industrial ecosystem has identified this sector as one of the decade’s major strategic trajectories, labeling companies specializing in high-performance carbon materials as “hidden champions” on a trillion-yuan path. The phrasing may be rhetorical, but the underlying logic is sound: these are component suppliers that rarely make headlines yet determine the technical feasibility of the most ambitious programs in nuclear energy and aerospace. Carbon fiber-reinforced carbon matrix composites — used, for instance, as control elements in very high-temperature reactors — are already the subject of extensive research into irradiation behavior and the relationship between microstructure and compressive strength.
On the production side, the shift toward lower-environmental-impact precursors and end-of-life fiber recycling processes is reshaping the supply chain. This is not merely a response to regulatory pressure: it is also a strategic choice, since the scarcity of high-performance carbon fiber is one of the real bottlenecks limiting the scaling of advanced nuclear technology. Whoever controls the materials supply chain controls, to a significant degree, the pace of reactor development. The projected C/C composite market volumes by 2030 suggest this reality has already been translated into investment decisions.
