Towards fusion energy 2023: infographics (accessible versions)
Updated 16 October 2023
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Fusion energy
Fusion takes place in the heart of the stars and provides the power that drives the universe.
Scientists and engineers all over the world are developing the technology to recreate this process on earth to create a new source of sustainable energy.
How does it work?
A combination of hydrogen gases, deuterium and tritium, are heated to very high temperatures to create a plasma.
Energy is released when the lighter deuterium and tritrium atoms fuse together to form a heavier helium atom and a neutron.
What next?
The UK is a world leader in the most promising fusion energy technologies.
The UK wants to build and develop relationships with international partners.
We will build a prototype fusion power plant - STEP - in the UK around 2040.
Private companies in the UK and around the world are also developing their own fusion power plant designs.
Fusion energy
Part of the world’s future sustainable energy supply:
- efficient
- low carbon
- safe
- abundant
How is UKAEA solving fusion’s greatest challenges?
The UK Atomic Energy Authority is the UK’s national fusion energy research organisation. UKAEA works with partners across the globe to progress fusion towards electricity protection.
The experiments and facilities at UKAEA each have a vital role to play in getting fusion on the grid.
JET
Plasma science
The Joint European Torus is the world’s largest and most advanced tokamak. It studies the conditions needed to confine fusion fuel in a plasma at temperatures 10 times hotter than the sun.
MAST-Upgrade
Plasma exhaust
The UK’s national fusion experiment is being used to demonstrate an exha system (Super-X Divertor) capable of managing the intense heat from the plasma.
MRF
Materials science
This facility develops and examines materials that can withstand the demanding conditions inside a fusion powerplant.
H3AT
Fuel handling
The world-leading tritium research centre studies how to process, store and recycle tritium, one of the fuels that will power commercial power plants.
RACE
Robotic maintenance
This division provides robotic solutions that enable maintenance in challenging environments to take place with entirely robotic techniques.
FTF
Innovative engineering
This facility will test components in realistic fusion conditions and take advantage of new engineering and manufacturing techniques to advance fusion development.