Our Facilities

Facilitating tritium and waste science research

Our existing and planned facilities integrate with UKAEA safety, security, environmental and radioactive waste disposal systems.

We provide a non-nuclear licensed site for modelling tritium fuel cycle loops and simulating different fusion plant scenarios. Our facilities also provide qualification and testing of fusion reactor services and hardware. ​

H3AT Research Centre

Our research centre provides a world-first tritium research facility to enable industry and academia to study how to process, store and recycle tritium. It boasts of state-of-the-art tritium systems and infrastructures to support future fuel cycle development for projects such as ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), DEMO (EU demonstration power plant) and STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production). 

Waste Facilities

Our waste facilities enable technological innovations for waste management solutions that are cost effective. They facilitate research and development into tritiated waste treatment and fusion plant repurposing.

Notably, our Materials Detritiation Facility (MDF) successfully demonstrates best available techniques (BAT) for a circular economy environment where tritium is recovered, reused and recycled. It also leads to the down categorisation of fusion waste.

Plastic Fabrication Workshop

​​The Plastic Fabrication Workshop (PFW) is home to H3AT’s unique capability to design and manufacture bespoke containment solutions for hazardous environments and protective covers or isolators.

Born out of a need to safely handle fusion materials and waste on the Culham site, our specialist competence and capability for designing containment enclosures has developed and enhanced into other protective uses.