The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (U. of I.) has partnered with Tokamak Energy to advance designs for its fusion pilot plant, which will demonstrate net power by the mid-2030s under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program.
The DOE’s decadal vision was launched to unite a select group of private companies with national laboratories and universities in bringing fusion – the power of the stars – toward technical and commercial viability.
Experts from both teams will now use Illinois Grainger Engineering’s Hybrid Illinois Device for Research and Applications (HIDRA) to carry out groundbreaking research into liquid metal plasma-facing components – a key focus for next-generation fusion energy devices.
Tokamak Energy, the only private company with more than 10 years’ experience designing, building and operating tokamaks, will work at the university to design an upgrade to the existing HIDRA capabilities and apply research learning to its prototype power plant designs.
Illinois Grainger Engineering Dean Rashid Bashir said: “Our new partnership with Tokamak Energy represents an exciting frontier in fusion research, leveraging the university's strengths in scientific discovery to solve one of the greatest energy challenges of our time. Together, we are not only advancing fusion science but also preparing the next generation of fusion experts."
Dr. Vivian Lee, Tokamak Energy, added: “We are delighted to have a team in Illinois advancing a critical component of our fusion pilot plant design program. We are proud to work alongside the U. of I. to realize a vital source of clean, abundant energy while developing and inspiring Illinois' workforce to overcome the future challenges ahead.”
Earlier this month, Tokamak Energy announced it had raised $125 million to accelerate ambitious plans to commercialise fusion energy. It will be used to advance its fusion energy pilot plant design program, as well as develop, test and validate new fusion technologies using its record-breaking high field spherical tokamak in Oxford, UK.
This pioneering research is key to driving the innovation needed to achieve fusion and deliver clean, limitless, secure energy all over the world.
HIDRA is a medium-sized toroidal magnetic fusion device housed in the Nuclear Radiation Laboratory and operated by the Center for Plasma-Material Interactions (CPMI) within the Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering at Illinois Grainger Engineering.
What is fusion energy?
Fusion is the original source of all energy. When a mix of two forms of hydrogen (deuterium and tritium) are heated to form a controlled plasma at high temperatures – hotter than the core of the Sun – they fuse to create helium and release energy which can be harnessed to produce electricity and heat.
This hot plasma of fuels is confined using strong magnets in a device called a ‘tokamak’. The energy created from fusion can be used to generate electricity and heat in the same way as existing power stations. Fusion is extremely efficient, creating many million times more energy, per kilogram of fuel, than burning coal, oil, or gas with no harmful emissions.
Fusion is a safe, on-demand energy source that can be located anywhere and integrated into the energy system. The process of a fusion reaction is safer than conventional nuclear fission because it is easy to stop since it needs continuous fuel supply. The other main benefit is that it produces no long-lived nuclear waste.
For more information, contact stuart.white@tokamakenergy.com or +44 7368 622510.
Pictured in front of HIDRA, from left, is Professor Daniel Andruczyk, Daniel O'Dea (PhD candidate), Dean Rashid Bashir, George Stoneham, Dr. Andrew Shone (both Tokamak Energy), Giovanni Diaz (PhD student), Dr Vivian Lee (Tokamak Energy) and Nina Mihajlov (PhD student)
About Tokamak Energy | tokamakenergy.com
Tokamak Energy is a leading global commercial fusion energy company. We are a world leader in two transformative technologies: the compact spherical tokamak and High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) magnets. One company, with licensable technology for commercialising clean, secure and affordable fusion energy and enabling new levels of performance in HTS applications that change the world in which we live today.
Founded in 2009 as a spin-off from UK Atomic Energy Authority, we employ a growing team of over 260 people with experts from the UK and around the world. This combines world leading scientific, engineering, industrial and commercial capabilities. We have 77 families of patent applications and have raised $335 million, comprising $275m from private investors and $60m from the UK and US governments.
Our U.S. subsidiary, Tokamak Energy Inc, was established in 2019 and is one of eight companies selected by the Department of Energy for an award as part of its Milestone Program, a key aspect of the bold decadal vision for delivering commercial fusion.
About The Grainger College of Engineering
The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign upholds its reputation as a top-ranked engineering college by delivering engineering education that isn’t beholden to commonality. Innovation here comes from the pursuit of a more diverse student body, programs that emphasize collaboration, methodology that commits to hands-on learning, and research that boldly answers difficult questions.
Our land-grant mission grounds us, and our accomplishments include advancements in the MRI, LED, ILIAC, Mosaic, YouTube, flexible electronics, electric machinery, miniature batteries, imaging the black hole and much more.
With fortitude, determination, and dogged commitment to a brighter future, we don’t just make a difference; we create the difference. And that difference will construct a better future for everyone. Visit https://grainger.illinois.edu for more information.