Experts welcome British plans to build a fusion demonstrator
The UK government has published its strategy on how the country will become a commercial leader in fusion energy and has selected five potential locations for its prototype facility. It has also published a consultation document on the regulation of nuclear fusion and calls on experts on safety and environmental protection to provide feedback.
Nuclear fusion involves compressing nuclei – mimicking the processes that drive the sun – and harnessing the energy released. The potential benefits are enormous. The technology would produce carbon-free base load electricity without creating the long-lived radioactive waste that is generated from conventional fission plants. However, there are significant technological hurdles that scientists and engineers must overcome to demonstrate that the merger is feasible and this is at the heart of both national efforts, including the JET research program in the UK, and international collaboration – ITER – in France .
The UK’s merger strategy is centered around two objectives: to demonstrate the commercial feasibility of the merger by building a prototype fusion device in the UK to inject energy into the grid; and for the UK to build a world-leading fusion industry that can export the resulting technology around the world.
Construction of a prototype
For decades, researchers have been working to develop and prove fusion technology. To date, fusion technology has not generated any net energy; Fusion experiments took more energy to fuse nuclei than what came out. There’s an often heard joke about fusion energy: it’s always 30 years away from commercial reality. Or 20 years. Or 50 years. Regardless of this, the accusation is that we are not getting any closer.
“I think we are at a real turning point,” said fusion researcher Sandy Knowles, associate professor of nuclear materials at the University of Birmingham and co-editor of the UK Fusion Materials Roadmap for the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). “In France there is ITER, which will go online between 2025 and 2030 with reasoned predictions that it will have 500 MW output energy from 50 MW input heat.”
The design of the ITER facility is influenced by experiments carried out at the UK’s JET facility at the Culham Center near Oxford. In October, the UK announced that its prototype fusion power plant – known as the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) – would be built in either Ardeer, Scotland, or Goole, Moorside, Ratcliffe-on-Soar or Severn Edge in England. It has set itself the goal of bringing energy to the grid by 2040.
“It’s ambitious, but that’s what we need,” said Sandy. “I have to be objective. It’s not a zero risk. We need some high-risk, high-return investments in our energy portfolio. “
There are significant technological hurdles that UK scientists and engineers are working to overcome, including process development and material selection. Among other things, the JET facility is working on how to encapsulate fusion fuel in a plasma that is ten times hotter than the sun. The MAST-Upgrade project is developing an exhaust system suitable for compact fusion systems. The so-called “Super-X-Divertor” will reduce the heat and current load from particles leaving the plasma, which means that the components of the divertor will last longer. There is also the H3AT center, slated to open in 2023, which will study how tritium is processed, stored and recycled. This includes the development of the tritium cultivation systems, which require fusion power plant concepts in order to produce the isotopes required for their plasma.
STEP: Artist’s impression of the demonstration system
Persistent response
When asked what opportunities the government’s strategy holds for chemical and process engineers, Neil Blundell, Energy Subject Area Lead of the IChemE Learned Society Committee and committee member of the Nuclear Technology Special Interest Group (NTSIG) said there are many opportunities for the community : “As with any power generator, not only the operation promises technical challenges and employment. There is also the cycle of processes that are needed to support it. In the case of fusion reactors, it is clear that not only hydrogen, deuterium and tritium have to be produced, but a lot of work is required in areas such as the separation and recovery of valuable and important elements from waste. “
Science Secretary George Freeman said: “This paper sets out the UK government’s strategy to move from a fusion science superpower to a fusion industrial superpower. With this plan, the UK hopes to lead the world in the commercialization and adoption of this potentially world-changing technology. “
The government aims to create fusion technology clusters in the UK and develop the supply chains and skills base for UK companies to compete in the future global nuclear fusion technology market. In July, Canada’s General Fusion signed an agreement with the UK Atomic Energy Agency to build a fusion demonstration facility in Culham.
Sandy said, “We are doing very well to capitalize on our fusion leadership in plasma physics and materials engineering. I think the UK is positioning itself as, if not one of the leading merger countries. We hold JET, currently the most powerful fusion device in the world. I think we will get stronger and stronger. There seems to be a great deal of government willingness to turn the merger into a Moonshot project for the UK. “
When asked how it could be strengthened, Blundell said, “It’s good to see a government-backed strategy. Equally valuable would be to expand into details of the vast support industries expected to address this ambitious fusion reactor challenge. This would enable students considering a future in chemical engineering, graduates, chemical engineers at a young age, and even our members looking to transition from their existing careers to understand the potential career paths and opportunities that are available to them. “
regulation
To support these ambitions and create markets for UK businesses, the government wants the UK to lead the development of international merger standards and regulations. In a statement announcing its consultation on merger regulation, the Department of Enterprise, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said: “Given the expected low threat posed by fusion energy, the government is proposing to continue with a proportionate ‘non-nuclear’ approach … this will be a safe one and enable efficient introduction of the technology through innovation-friendly regulation. “
Blundell said: “It is of course important to consult whether the existing regulatory framework for the merger will be appropriate and ‘fit for purpose’ over the next 20 to 30 years and whether an alternative approach and / or a different regulator might be more appropriate than” the one now available.”
The government has asked experts from industry and science to give their views on health and safety, environmental and safety regulations, and precautions for radioactive material. The consultation ends on December 24th and is available here: https://bit.ly/3E2TrUX.
Blundell said NT SIG welcomed the ambitious strategy and was in good agreement with IChemE’s position on climate change and SIG’s action plan on climate change. IChemE has invited the member communities to prepare action plans in advance of the COP26, which will be prepared for publication when going to press. As part of this, Blundell said, as part of its Climate Change Action Plan, SIG has committed to an active member participation program to learn how nuclear technology can support the pursuit of net zero. This also includes innovative and modular reactor power systems that show how combined heat and power can deliver heat and electricity directly to consumers such as hydrogen generators, petrochemical and desalination plants.
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