A company backed by Amazon's Jeff Bezos is set to build a large-scale nuclear fusion demonstration plant in Oxfordshire. Canada's General F

Nuclear energy: Fusion plant backed by Jeff Bezos to be built in UK

submited by

Style Pass

2021-06-17 16:30:02

A company backed by Amazon's Jeff Bezos is set to build a large-scale nuclear fusion demonstration plant in Oxfordshire.

Canada's General Fusion is one of the leading private firms aiming to turn the promise of fusion into a commercially viable energy source.

General Fusion will enter into a long-term commercial lease with the UK Atomic Energy Authority following the construction of the facility at the Culham campus.

Fusion is the process by which the Sun generates energy. Harnessing it here on Earth is seen as a critical step towards greener nuclear power.

But getting atoms to fuse together at temperatures several times hotter than the surface of the Sun has proven a huge technological and financial challenge.

Frustrated by the slow progress, private companies across the world have been following their own approaches, and General Fusion's effort is seen as one of the most advanced.

Backed by Jeff Bezos for over a decade, the company raised $100m in its last round of funding and is preparing to go back to investors for more cash to show that the firm's technology can be successfully scaled up.