Fusion, UK promises first commercial reactor “by 2040”

The government of the United Kingdom announced an ambitious plan to first nuclear fusion reactor to the world by 2040. It will cost at least £10 billion and the location of the power plant has already been chosen. In fact, however, there are still some (fundamental) unknowns to be solved and the necessary technology still seems a long way off.

Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg announced the plan at a press conference. The project is ambitious and currently the UK does not yet have the necessary technology.

It will be a nuclear fusion type reactor tokamak, that is, having a spherical shape as opposed to the toroidal core. It serves to improve the efficiency of the magnetic fields, which are essential for confining and regulating the plasma required for the fusion process. The project is part of the STEP programme, born precisely with the aim of making the UK a world leader in the race for nuclear fusion. The program has already received funding of approximately €220 million. A minimum of £10 billion is needed to meet the target by 2040.

The UK plans to spend at least £10 billion. They may not be enough.

The first fusion reactor arises in West Burtonwhere today stands a coal-fired power station that will be dismantled and partially dismantled in the coming years.

The roadmap is still long and contains a number of intermediate steps that are crucial. The first concept will be produced in 2024

The roadmap is still long and contains a number of intermediate steps that are crucial. In 2024, the government hopes to realize the first concept of a nuclear fusion reactor. The first model will be connected to the national grid, but only on an experimental basis and without being sold.

Is 2040 really a realistic date?

It should be noted that the UK has not yet built a functioning nuclear fusion reactor – and as far as we know it is not yet close to doing so. We’ve seen some encouraging experiments in the recent past, but the 2040 deadline seems far too optimistic for most.

However, it is extremely positive that a government has decided to pay so much attention to this technology and set itself extremely ambitious goals. The initiative could lead to a major acceleration of nuclear energy research, bringing the goal of nuclear fusion closer.

To understand where the research is at the moment, it is useful to resume a news story from September 9, when it became known that the experimental reactor Kstar had managed to reach a temperature of 100 million degrees for 30 seconds in 2020. . Now the Korean researchers have set themselves the goal of trying again in 2025, when they will try to keep the new plasma at 100 million degrees for at least 300 seconds.

Kstar is one of the most advanced experimental reactors in the world, but it is far from having sufficiently mature technology for commercial use. From 2040 we will be 18 years apart, in the meantime a lot can change.