A new transatlantic agreement has been launched by Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) and the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) to develop the use of fusion energy for commercial purposes.
The parameters of a number of work initiatives between UKAEA and US-based CFS, situated in Massachusetts, that will promote the development of fusion energy and related technologies are established by the new five-year Collaboration Framework Agreement.
This collaboration is the outcome of both organisations’ shared purpose to use cutting-edge science and the speed of the private sector to enable the quickest route to low-carbon commercial fusion energy, which is based on the same processes that power the sun and stars.
Achieving our common aims to offer low carbon and sustainable fusion energy necessitates working at the cutting edge of research, engineering, and technology, according to Prof. Ian Chapman, CEO of UKAEA.
With the support of this new collaboration arrangement with CFS, advancement will be sped up along with these developments and capabilities.
Fusion offers the UK an exciting opportunity, and we’re happy that our pioneering work here continues to boost economic growth and draw in such esteemed international partners.
CFS CEO Bob Mumgaard continued, “CFS and UKAEA have a mutual interest and strong belief that public-private partnerships like this provide a method to accelerate improvements in commercial fusion energy technology and assist CFS’ goals to deliver commercial fusion as soon as practicable.
“We are leveraging the combined abilities and talents of both organisations to provide the quickest road to commercial fusion power on the grid,” says CFS. “UKAEA is a leader in fusion energy research.
The collaboration’s scope could include:
Sharing and learning from fusion experiment best practises by operations teams
access to robots and other fusion-related technology facilities
collaboration on advanced manufacturing, diagnostics, remote handling, and remote maintenance, neutronics modelling, systems integration models, and fuel cycle technologies
Collaboration to find and respond to new plasma physics questions
The Environment Agency (EA) and Health & Safety Executive will oversee future fusion energy projects, the UK government announced last month (HSE).
Developers of prototype and demonstration fusion facilities now under development, such as the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP), UKAEA’s ambitious ambition to hasten the supply of sustainable fusion energy, will now have clarity thanks to this.
