On Friday 11th July, the Fusion Energy APPG hosted a visit to Culham Campus, home to the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and a cluster of world-leading fusion research.
During the visit, Parliamentarians toured various projects on site, including:
- Joint European Torus (JET) – the world’s largest and most successful fusion experiment which until recently was the focal point of the European fusion research programme. Operational for over 30 years, JET was at the forefront of fusion research and is now pioneering the decommissioning of large fusion machines, informing the design and construction of ITER, its successor being built in France.
- MAST Upgrade – the UK’s national fusion experiment, exploring the route to compact fusion plants, testing the technology and physics for the international ITER project. By exploring more compact fusion plants, MAST is laying the foundations for Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP), the UK’s flagship prototype fusion power plant based in West Burton, Nottinghamshire.
- Remote Applications in Challenging Environments (RACE) – a centre developing robotics for extreme industrial environments, including fusion, space, nuclear and transport applications.
Attendees also heard from industry experts on the progress made towards commercial nuclear fusion, as well as the wider economic benefits of research into nuclear fusion. Highlights from the presentations include:
- Tim Bestwick (Chief Development Officer and interim CEO from UKAEA) spoke about the state of play of fusion in the UK and the UKAEA’s collaboration with private sector research at Culham.
- James Cowan (Programme Director at STEP) set out how the project is creating thousands of jobs in Nottinghamshire as the anchor for the East Midlands Combined County Authority Clean Energy Supercluster.
- Ryan Ramsey (COO) and Mark Thomas (CEO) from First Light Fusion discussed First Light’s research into inertial fusion technology, having achieved its first fusion result in 2021.
- Itxaso Ariza (CTO) and Anita Breslin (CFO) set out Tokamak Energy’s innovative work on high temperature superconducting magnet technology.
The visit comes on the tails of a £2.5 billion investment into fusion energy from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, with the Government’s Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan recognising fusion’s potential as one of six clean energy frontier industries with the highest potential for growth.
The visit underscored fusion’s role not only in achieving the UK’s net zero ambitions but also in driving economic growth for the UK through spin-off technologies and the provision of skilled jobs. The visit also highlighted the world-leading role the UK has played in developing fusion energy and the importance of ensuring we maintain this leadership.