The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) has announced two funding rounds worth a total of £19 million (US$24 million) for lithium and other technologies to support the development of fusion energy, a sustainable and low carbon source of energy that mimics the process that powers the sun and stars.
Lithium is a vital element for fusion energy, as it can be used to breed tritium, one of the fuels for fusion reactions, and to cool fusion devices. Five organisations, including four universities and one company, have secured six contracts worth £7.4 million in total to develop and test various lithium technologies for fusion applications.
The projects range from developing plasma-based and centrifugal methods for lithium isotope enrichment, to identifying microorganisms for lithium removal, to testing liquid lithium performance and compatibility in fusion environments.
The contracts are part of the Fusion Industry Programme, which aims to help businesses overcome the scientific and engineering challenges of fusion and prepare for the future global fusion power plant market.
The Fusion Industry Programme also awarded £11.6 million for novel fusion materials and manufacturing and heating and cooling for fusion devices. Nine organisations, including start-ups, SMEs and academia, received the funding for these projects.
The projects include developing high temperature sensors, photonic chips, guided wave technology, additive manufacturing, powder hot isostatic pressing, passive heat transfer enhancement devices and Coreflow welding technology for fusion applications.
The projects aim to improve the availability, performance and efficiency of fusion power plants, which could provide clean and abundant energy for millions of homes and businesses.
The funding for both sets of projects follows the feasibility demonstration in an earlier funding round and is aimed to enable the development of proof of concepts.
The UKAEA is the national laboratory for fusion research and operates the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, the world’s largest fusion experiment, JET. The UKAEA is also building the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP), a prototype fusion power plant that aims to produce net electricity by 2040.
