THE PATH TO COMMERCIALISTION
of fusion by integrating and operating industrial-scale fusion systems in a single, energy-producing facility which will galvanise the entire fusion sector in the UK.” To deliver STEP, UK Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd (UKIFS) is being set up as a delivery body that is due to be fully formed by August 2024.
● First Light Fusion’s inertially confined plasma technology, which has raised £78m (US$97m) in private-sector funding. The design sidesteps many of the major engineering challenges of many other fusion approaches and a prototype power plant expected in the early-to- mid 2030s. The next step towards the power plant is an ignition demonstration, targeted for 2027, which will be in a purpose-built facility at Culham.
Wider issues The revised strategy included international co-operation, regulation and legal issues. Despite leaving Euratom the UK says “Fusion is a global endeavour and the advantages of international collaboration in R&D are well understood. We want to use international collaboration to accelerate commercialisation and reduce the cost of fusion energy development for the UK and its partners.” It wants a new route for collaboration:
● To use international R&D collaborations to accelerate the commercialisation of fusion energy.
● To reduce the cost and risk of UK fusion programmes through collaboration, while protecting UK intellectual property and competitive advantage.
● To lead the development of international fusion standards and regulation, to ensure safety and maximise the global potential of fusion whilst creating important market opportunities for the UK.
It is keen that regulation “enables innovation rather than stifles it”. Legislation now under way will mean fusion is regulated by conventional safety and environment regulators (the Health and Safety Executive and Environment Agency). The provisions in the Energy Bill are expected to become law in 2024. Fusion will also remain outside many arrangements
for nuclear liability. The UK will work with international partners on third party liability and on what would happen in the event of an accident, to provide the fusion supply chain with clarity on whether they would be held liable. Safeguards and export controls also have to be clarified, because although fusion waste is not as radiologically active as fission waste, it includes tritium, which is subject to regulation. The next step domestically for the government is to
introduce a National Policy Statement for Fusion Energy, which will streamline the consenting process for STEP and private developers. The government will invest up to £18m (US$22m) to establish a Technology Transfer Hub dedicated to bridging the gap between research and commercial technology, and it will explore the option of a UK fusion investment fund, providing ‘patient capital’ to UK fusion firms and suppliers. ■
| FUSION
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