Creating sensors for extreme fusion energy conditions

Worth £3.5m in total, 16 contracts – feasibility studies from £100,000 up to £250,000 – have been awarded by UKAEA’s Fusion Industry Programme, an initiative launched in 2021 to develop the necessary technology and skills for the future global fusion power plant market.

The 13 organisations – 10 private companies and three academic institutions – are developing a range of sensing and diagnostic technologies for use in extreme environments, an essential field of innovation for future fusion power plants.

Fusion power plants will operate under complex conditions, including extreme temperatures, high neutron loads and high magnetic fields. Developing highly specialised, robust sensing and control technologies that can operate under these extreme conditions is essential to making fusion energy a commercially viable part of the world’s energy mix.

Novel sensing and diagnostic systems will be needed to measure a range of data within a fusion power plant, including plasma position and shape, plasma electron density, temperature, and the performance of plasma-facing components.

The 13 organisations will now undertake technical feasibility studies, taking their sensing and diagnostics technologies to ‘proof of concept’ stages with support from the Fusion Industry Programme.

Tim Bestwick, Chief Technology Officer and Deputy CEO, UKAEA, said: “Fusion promises to be a safe, sustainable source of energy for future generations. However, delivering fusion means overcoming complex scientific and engineering challenges, such as developing tough sensors to withstand fusion’s harsh environments.

“The Fusion Industry Programme is engaging private companies and academia to help solve these challenges, while stimulating innovation that can boost adjacent sectors.”

In a first for the Fusion Industry Programme, expert fusion industry support is being provided by technical advisors from both UKAEA and Tokamak Energy Ltd. Experts from UKAEA and Tokamak Energy are providing technical advice on the conditions encountered in a fusion environment, to help inform the design and development of sensing and diagnostic technologies.

Joanne Flanagan, Tokamak Energy’s Head of Diagnostics, Data and Control, said: “We’re delighted to see a wealth of variety in the innovative responses to this challenge and are excited to support the projects in our role as technical advisors.

“Measurement systems and components will need to be extremely robust to operate in the extreme fusion power plant environment, which is why we must explore a full range of technologies, ideas and solutions. This challenge is designed to stimulate the innovation needed to address this development, bringing us all one step closer to the goal of delivering clean, secure and affordable fusion energy.”