Contract Awarded for UK’s Commercial Fusion Plant

K-based engineering company, Assystem, has been awarded two contracts by the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) to support the development of the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP).

STEP is the UK’s prototype fusion power plant designed to demonstrate the commercial viability of fusion energy.

In the first contract, Assystem will partner on the STEP Fuel Cycle Tritium Engineering Framework. This work will concern the inside the plant at temperatures expected to reach around 150 million °C.

The second contract involves the assessment of different designs for STEP’s ‘breeder blanket’, the first-of-a-kind component responsible for creating the tritium fuel required for successful fusion.

Matthew Gallimore, Assystem’s Chief Sales Officer said: “STEP is a globally significant project in the development of fusion energy as it takes us a step close to the commercial phase of this new technology.

“The teams at Assystem bring strong experience in fusion gained on JET and ITER and we are excited to be creating more jobs in fusion development through these latest contract wins.”

Assystem and their partners, Thornton Tomasetti, will work with STEP’s research team to develop software capable of undertaking simulations to help define breeder blanket designs that can produce enough tritium to advance the project to the next phase of simulation and testing, moving us closer to achieving commercially viable fusion energy.

Source: Power Engineering International