Published by Todd Bush on February 15, 2024
Agreement complements the signing today of a Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and Canada reflecting a new partnership on fusion energy
Oxford, United Kingdom / Chalk River, Ontario – 14 February 2024 – The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), have signed a collaboration framework agreement to partner on the development of technologies in relation to the management of tritium, a fusion energy fuel.
Ian Castillo, Head of Directorate, Hydrogen and Tritium Technologies, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), and Stephen Wheeler, Executive Director, UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), at UKAEA’s Culham Campus, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.
>> In Other News: Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and Kyoto Fusioneering Form Strategic Alliance to Advance
This agreement complements the signing today of a Memorandum of Understanding by the UK’s Energy Secretary, Claire Coutinho and Canadian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson at the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Ministerial meeting.
The UK-Canada Memorandum of Understanding enhances collaboration on key focus areas, including research and development, regulatory harmonisation, and skills and workforce development.
Stephen Wheeler, UKAEA Executive Director, said: “Fusion energy promises to be a safe, low carbon and sustainable part of the world’s future energy supply. Tritium is a key fuel for fusion energy, and developing a commercial scale fuel cycle for the handling and reprocessing of tritium is vital to the delivery of fusion as a clean energy source.”
“This collaboration between UKAEA and CNL brings together two of the largest and most experienced tritium research and operational teams in order to accelerate the development of new technologies for tritium processing,” added Wheeler.
A key focus of the partnership will be on hydrogen isotope management within the fusion fuel cycle safely removing, processing, and reinjecting fuel to the plasma in a continuous manner. Hydrogen isotope management is an essential part of the fusion fuel cycle – tritium needs to be separated from other hydrogen isotopes in the exhaust gas so that it can be recycled and reused as a fusion fuel. Tritium is rare in nature, so managing tritium efficiently is crucial to fusion energy’s commercial viability.
The first project under this collaboration will involve samples of candidate materials for isotope separation being analysed at both CNL’s facilities in Chalk River, Ontario, and UKAEA’s facilities in Culham, Oxfordshire.
“CNL has a proud history of working alongside the United Kingdom to advance clean energy technologies, and this agreement builds on that relationship, to pursue fusion technologies, a transformative clean energy solution for our respective countries,” commented Jeff Griffin, Vice-President, Science and Technology, CNL.
“For our part, CNL has extensive expertise in the safe operation of facilities, storage and management of tritium, capabilities that will be critically important to this collaboration. Overall, we are thrilled to work with such a talented and internationally respected team of researchers at the UKAEA, and we cannot wait to get started,” remarked Ian Castillo, Head of Hydrogen and Tritium Technologies, CNL.
The UK-Canada collaboration builds on the announcement of the UK-US Strategic Partnership on Fusion Energy in November 2023 and will support the UK’s £650 million Fusion Futures programme, which is ensuring the UK remains at the cutting-edge of innovation – with training opportunities and dedicated funding for fusion companies.
The UKAEA and CNL agreement establishes a framework in which the two organisations will conduct joint research projects, facilitate personnel secondments, share expertise for consultancy services, and work together to provide services to the fusion industry.
Both UKAEA and CNL facilities will also be leveraged in this partnership to advance tritium technologies required for fusion applications, including the design of tritium processing plants, tritium-compatible materials development, tritium breeder blanket technologies, tritium decontamination, and analytical equipment and the modeling of tritium handling processes.
Photos
Photos from a recent visit Canadian Nuclear Laboratories visit to UK Atomic Energy Authority’s Culham Campus, in Oxfordshire, can be found here: https://ukaea.canto.global/b/JTQVC
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) is the UK’s national organisation responsible for the research and delivery of sustainable fusion energy. It is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Fusion energy has great potential to deliver safe, sustainable, low carbon energy for generations to come. It is based on the same processes that power the Sun and stars, and would form part of the world’s future energy mix. Achieving this is a major technical challenge that involves working at the forefront of science, engineering, and technology.
UKAEA’s fusion machines include MAST-Upgrade (Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak) and the JET (Joint European Torus) research facility. JET’s operations were funded by the UK Government from 2021 until 31st December 2023. UKAEA is delivering the transition of JET from plasma operations to repurposing and decommissioning, on behalf of the UK Government. The insights gained from this process will contribute to the advancement of sustainable future fusion powerplants.
UKAEA is implementing the UK’s £650 million Fusion Futures Programme, the UK’s alternative programme to associating to Euratom R&T, to support the UK Fusion Strategy. The Programme entails establishing new facilities at UKAEA’s Culham Campus in Oxfordshire to facilitate the advancement of new technologies and expand fusion fuel cycle capabilities. The Programme aims to foster world-leading innovation while also stimulating general industry capacity through international collaboration and the development of future fusion power plants. Additionally, a fusion skills package will be introduced focusing on nurturing expertise across a spectrum of disciplines and levels. In 2021, UKAEA opened its Fusion Technology Facility near Rotherham in South Yorkshire, to develop and test materials and components for future fusion powerplants.
UKAEA also undertakes cutting edge work with academia, other research organisations and the industrial supply chain in a wide spectrum of areas, including robotics and materials.
More information: https://www.gov.uk/ukaea. Social Media: @UKAEAofficial
When a mix of two forms of hydrogen (deuterium and tritium) is heated to form a controlled plasma at extreme temperatures – 10 times hotter than the core of the Sun – they fuse together to create helium and release energy which can be harnessed to produce electricity. There is more than one way of achieving this. UKAEA’s approach is to hold this hot plasma using strong magnets in a ring-shaped machine called a ‘tokamak’, and then to harness this heat to produce electricity in a similar way to existing power stations.
As Canada’s premier nuclear science and technology laboratory, and working under the direction of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), CNL is a world leader in the development of innovative nuclear science and technology products and services. This includes a long and extensive history in the development and deployment of technologies and systems to safely manage hydrogen isotopes, including deuterium and tritium. CNL operates a state-of-the-art Tritium Facility, licensed to handle large quantities of tritium, and another one-of-a-kind facility for technologies at the Chalk River Laboratories campus.
CNL is also expanding its presence in fusion as part of its clean energy program. Working with one of its key partners, Kyoto Fusioneering, CNL is currently exploring plans to establish an internationally-unique flexible fusion fuel cycle and demonstration platform at the Chalk River campus for national and international fusion communities’ involvement. This is in addition to a series of projects that CNL recently announced demonstrating its growing momentum in this emerging clean energy space, including partnerships with First Light Fusion and General Fusion with whom a MOU has been signed.
Guided by an ambitious corporate strategy known as Vision 2030, CNL fulfills three strategic priorities of national importance – restoring and protecting the environment, advancing clean energy technologies, and contributing to the health of Canadians.
By leveraging the assets owned by AECL, CNL also serves as the nexus between government, the nuclear industry, the broader private sector and the academic community. CNL works in collaboration with these sectors to advance innovative Canadian products and services towards real-world use, including carbon-free energy, cancer treatments and other therapies, non-proliferation technologies and waste management solutions.
For more information on CNL, including its various clean energy projects and programs, please visit www.cnl.ca.
Photo caption: Ian Castillo, Head of Directorate, Hydrogen and Tritium Technologies, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), and Stephen Wheeler, Executive Director, UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), at UKAEA’s Culham Campus, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Follow the money flow of climate, technology, and energy investments to uncover new opportunities and jobs.
Inside this Issue 💡 Bill Gates-backed Startup Says a Global Gold Rush for Buried Hydrogen is Picking Up Momentum 🌍 Largest Hydrogen Highway to Link America and Europe: 10 Million Metric Tons and a...
Inside this Issue 🌿 Gevo to Acquire Red Trail Energy Assets in North Dakota, Including Operating Low-carbon Ethanol Production and Carbon Sequestration Facilities, Expanding Platform for Sustainab...
Inside this Issue 💡 1PointFive's South Texas Direct Air Capture Hub Awarded U.S. Department of Energy Funding 🔗 H2 Clipper's Patented 'Hydrogen Ledger' Uses Blockchain Technology to Track Purity a...
UNDO Lands Groundbreaking Carbon Removals Financing Deal in 'Global First'
UK carbon removal start-up UNDO has secured an innovative debt financing deal, supported by significant corporates like British Airways and Standard Chartered, to accelerate the expansion of its en...
Say Goodbye to EVs – This Water-Hydrogen Engine Will Change Everything in Automotion
Honda launches a model identical to the Dodge Challenger – here’s when you can buy it Neither Toyota nor Hyundai – JD Power confirms the list of most reliable cars on the US market. Chevy an...
New Technology Transforms Captured Carbon Into Clean Energy Source
Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed an innovative electrochemical cell that efficiently converts captured carbon dioxide (CO2) into formate, a green fuel. This new system,...
Holcim Invests in Sublime Systems to Scale Up Innovative Low-carbon Technology
Startup developed proprietary CO2-free electrochemical process to produce low-carbon cement Investment covers Sublime’s first commercial manufacturing facility, giving Holcim a large share of ...
Follow the money flow of climate, technology, and energy investments to uncover new opportunities and jobs.