Above: Dr Gryaznevich began working in the UK at the Small Tight Aspect Ratio Tokamak (START) experiment at Culham in Oxfordshire
agreed but discussions are on-going. In January, the Celestial JV (comprising Eni UK as the lead member and AtkinsRealis, Jacobs Clean Energy (now Amentum), Westinghouse and Tokamak Energy) was shortlisted as the potential engineering partner for STEP. Tokamak Energy is the only company/institution in the world with experience in high field spherical tokamaks with HTS magnets, both key elements of STEP (and the Fusion Pilot Plant (FPP) in the US). Now China is also catching up with three spherical tokamak private companies, one with HTS magnets. Preliminary results are encouraging.
NEI: How is the STEP project progressing? Slowly. There is no solid funding yet, but grand promises with £20bn ($25.5bn) in funding promised by the UK Government. However, as no funding has been released to date, the progress is constrained.
NEI: How confident are you about Tokamak Energy’s stated aim to deliver fusion energy in the 2030s? We never declared in our business plans that we will build a fusion reactor. Tokamak Energy is an R&D company. Fusion energy may be delivered in the 2030s or 2040s by STEP and the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) FPP. In both projects we play important roles. I am confident that physics and
engineering are advanced enough for this. However, I don’t see convincing and sufficient funding, apart of Chinese promises. But Tokamak Energy is not participating in China.
NEI: What do you consider your greatest achievement? I am still progressing. Record beta on START [beta is the ratio of the plasma pressure to the magnetic field pressure]; merging-compression plasma formation (my invention) which was used on START and MAST and is now being used on Tokamak Energy’s ST40 high field spherical tokamak facility; confirmation on MAST of the possibility of successful extrapolation of START results to bigger devices; proposing STEP and convincing the fusion community that it is a good idea (I hope!); application of resonant field amplification (RFA) for experimental measurement of the beta limit on JET, DOE’s DIII-D tokamak and Germany’s ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) experimental tokamak; proposal of the F4N (Fusion for Neutrons) concept as the nearest goal in fusion research – now the need for a fusion neutron source is accepted throughout the world; and founding the first tokamak private company in the world. I am proud of all these achievements, but please don’t
overestimate them. Demonstration of fusion energy production would be the greatest achievement. It is not too far away, so watch this space. ■
Above: A spin-off from the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), Tokamak Energy is a fusion technology company
www.neimagazine.com | June 2025 | 29
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