Tokamak Energy signs United States Government agreement to accelerate bold decadal fusion vision

Tokamak Energy has signed an agreement with the Department of Energy (DOE) as part of the United States’ bold decadal vision for delivering commercial fusion.

The DOE’s $46 million milestone-based fusion development program was established to support private companies in bringing fusion toward technical and commercial viability.

Selected companies will now team with national laboratories, universities, and others to address major technical and commercialisation milestones for the successful design of a fusion pilot plant.

Tokamak Energy, founded in 2009 as a spin-off from UK Atomic Energy Authority, will demonstrate net power from its pilot plant in the mid-2030s, paving the way for globally deployable clean and secure fusion energy.

Michael Ginsberg, Tokamak Energy Inc. President, said: “We are delighted to officially sign up to the United States Department of Energy milestone-based fusion development programme. It’s fantastic that the strength of our team and technology, combining the spherical tokamak with high temperature superconducting magnets, has been recognised as part of the U.S. bold decadal vision to accelerate commercial fusion.

“We are beginning to establish ourselves at the heart of the U.S. fusion community, and now look forward to working closely with the DOE on the next big push towards commercialising clean, secure, affordable fusion power, addressing the twin challenges of energy security and climate change.”

Tokamak Energy, which has strong links with U.S. national labs, is the only private company with more than 10 years’ experience of designing, building and operating tokamaks.

It is the first private fusion company to reach a plasma temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius in a spherical tokamak, ST40, the threshold for commercial fusion. ST40 also achieved the highest triple product by a private company. Triple product is a widely recognised industry measure of plasma density, temperature and confinement, collectively a key measure of progress in the path to realising commercial fusion conditions.

Tokamak Energy has previously received seven awards through the U.S. Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) program. The INFUSE program was established in 2019 to accelerate fusion energy development through public-private research partnerships.

Publications

McNamara, S.A.M., et al., Achievement of ion temperatures in excess of 100 million degrees Kelvin in the compact high-field spherical tokamak ST40. Nuclear Fusion 63, 054002 (2023).

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