Our Fusion Technology team is taking the UK’s fusion expertise into the age of power plant delivery. We enable industrial partners to test prototype components in the conditions found inside fusion reactors – getting a head start in the commercialisation of fusion energy.
We offer a suite of testing facilities and capabilities for advanced engineering and manufacturing in the UK fusion industry and beyond.
Many of the facilities are already operating and more are being developed. Facilities are located at complementary UKAEA sites at Culham Campus and the Fusion Technology Facility at the Advanced Manufacturing Park at Waverley, near Rotherham.
Benefits
UKAEA Fusion Technology can assist UK engineering companies in:
- Winning contracts on international fusion projects
- Contributing to the UK’s STEP power plant design project
- Trialling technologies for the wider nuclear industry and other related areas
Fusion Technology capabilities
UKAEA test rigs can validate fusion components under combined thermal, mechanical, hydraulic and magnetic loads.
Programme areas include:
CHIMERA
CHIMERA is a unique component loading machine, designed to test component prototypes in the simultaneous extreme temperature, heat flux and electromagnetic environment representative of fusion power reactor conditions.
Applied Radiation Technology
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.
Materials Technology Laboratory
The Materials Technology Laboratory is the vanguard for fusion materials development in:
- Advanced materials testing and characterisation
- State-of-the-art small scale sample testing
- Leading design codes and standards for fusion
- Extreme environments materials design and selection
Special Techniques Group
Fusion Technology also encompasses Special Techniques Group – a highly-skilled material joining facility. Special Techniques has more than 40 years of experience as an integral part of UKAEA’s fusion energy research programme.
Special Techniques has developed proprietary methods of diffusion bonding a very wide range of materials. These diffusion bonded windows are ideal for demanding applications in quantum systems, microscopy, spectroscopy and cryogenics.
Technical Consultancy
UKAEA has unique multidisciplinary technical expertise and capability in fusion-related technology developed through many decades of R&D and operation of experimental fusion devices, including JET (Joint European Torus) and MAST (Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak). Our capabilities also extend beyond fusion to accelerators, fission, medical and detection applications.
Manufacturing Technology
The Manufacturing Technology and Equipment Qualification (MTEQ) group specialises in research and testing projects that require innovative manufacturing solutions for customers, such as global fusion projects.
Thermal Hydraulics Group
The Thermal Hydraulics Group specialises in applied research in reactor cooling and heat transfer for fusion and related areas.
This includes modelling complex fluid and heat transfer processes as well as performing experimental validation of these phenomena.
RADLab
The Radiological Assay and Detection Lab (RADLab) is a low contamination, medium dose facility – 0 µSv/hr – 123 µSv/hr contact – with multiple radiometric system for measuring gamma-rays, neutrons, and providing measurement services and training opportunities for universities, training providers, and industry.
Power Plant Modelling and Integration
The Power Plant Modelling and Integration group (PPMI) specialises in whole power plant modelling and integration along with multi-fidelity systems code development and exploitation. The group is responsible for developing leading power plant design codes PROCESS and bluemira.
