SPECIAL REPORT | FUSION AND DIGITAL ENDEAVOURS
The end is the beginning
As its operating life closes, the Joint European Torus is becoming a focus for new ways of working that could eventually see a much more open nuclear industry. UKAEA’s Rob Buckingham tells NEI about a facility and an industry in transition
Janet Wood
Expert author on energy issues
EARLIER THIS YEAR UKAEA PUBLISHED an open call on the UK government’s tender portal, asking to receive input from the market on “the capabilities that artificial intelligence, virtual reality and other automation could offer in enabling real time reporting using innovative visualisation technology”. UKAEA said it was “particularly interested to understand where disruptive technologies have been used in other industries that could be applied to the field of nuclear”. The call comes at a time when the UK’s energy industry is in the middle of a digital transformation. The country’s energy networks and energy asset owners have been pressed to make that digital transformation by industry regulators and by government, who warn that without moving to a digital environment the current revolution in the nature of the industry’s assets – from a few large power stations to millions of installations ranging from a few kilowatts for a household to multi gigawatt fission and fusion reactors – will not be achievable. But those
bodies are pushing at an open door. The energy industry also sees a huge opportunity in digitalisation to save costs and streamline operations, in which tools such as ‘digital twins’ of their assets, will enable them to develop and train operators or test new ways of using assets in a virtual environment, before taking on the higher costs and risks of acting in the real world. As a centre for future fusion power UKAEA at Culham has
to take the same digital leap as the rest of the power sector. At the same time, it has long-lived assets now moving into the end-of-life phase – primarily the Joint European Torus (JET), which finishes its science mission at the end of the year.
As its call to the market illustrates, its embrace of
the digital opportunity is equally important for both these activities. But, as Rob Buckingham makes it clear, digital-enabled nuclear industries may change nuclear’s interaction with other sectors and could help it dispel its reputation as a closed shop.
Above: The Joint European Torus (JET) fi nishes its science mission at the end of the year 18 | July 2023 |
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