Plans unveiled for private U.K. fusion reactor powered by ‘smoke rings’ and pneumatic pistons
A Canadian company, one of several betting on alternative approaches to fusion energy, announced today it will begin to build a pilot power plant next year in the United Kingdom. The plant, financially backed by the U.K. government and 70% of the size needed for a commercial power plant, will not generate energy, but rather will demonstrate the viability of the company’s fusion approach after it fires up in 2025, says Christofer Mowry, CEO of Vancouver-based General Fusion. “This is the first substantial public-private partnership in fusion,” Mowry says.
The pilot plant will cost several hundred million dollars and will be built at the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s campus outside Oxford, also home to the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, which operates the Joint European Torus—the world’s largest working fusion reactor—and the United Kingdom’s Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak Upgrade reactor.
Fusion advocates cheered the announcement from the 19-year-old company, which has raised $300 million from a mix of public and private sources. “General Fusion is a key player in the growing fusion industry,” says Melanie Windridge, U.K. director of the Fusion Industry Association. “They’ve raised significant investment for their magnetized target fusion concept, and we look forward to seeing their fusion demonstration plant come to life.”
