Applied Radiation Technology (ART) is part of UKAEA’s Fusion Technology group, working to facilitate the advancement of fusion energy. ART has world-leading expertise and capabilities in nuclear research and related areas, including:
- Radiation transport codes and workflows
- Inventory code development, utility codes and nuclear data activities
- Nuclear analysis
- Experimental activities
ART offers highly detailed, accurate and reliable time-dependent simulations and models. They can assist in the design of projects that involve fast moving subatomic particles, using the proprietary codes and software that they have developed, which are also available under licence to organisations and research partners.
Neutronics in fusion
Neutronics, also known as neutron transport, is the research into how neutrons move and interact with materials. Understanding the behaviour of neutrons, released as part of the deuterium-tritium fusion reaction, is important for a number of reasons:
- Plasma-facing materials can become irradiated and damaged by neutrons
- Lithium, embedded in breeder blankets, reacts with a neutron to produce helium and tritium – one of the fuels needed for fusion power plants
ART is involved in projects in the UK and internationally:
- Joint European Torus (JET), in association with EUROfusion
- European Spallation Source in Sweden
- ITER radiation field mapping
- DEMO power plant design
- Evaluating simulation and radiation fields
- Medical nuclear applications
- Advanced fission core modelling
