UK Atomic Energy Authority

We've been busy.... If you only watch one video on LinkedIn, make it this one! We've put together highlights from what has been a very exciting 12 months for the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and fusion energy in this inspirational video. One year on from COP26 and our landmark panel discussion; 'Looking to the Future with Fusion Energy', and as COP27 draws to a close, now is the best time to find out about all the great work undertaken by UKAEA, and our plans for the future. ✅ Visit https://ccfe.ukaea.uk #FusionEnergy #FusionIsComing Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), EUROfusion, UN Climate Change #COP27

If you attended FUSION24, you may have seen Rebecca Osborne -Graphic Recorder/Illustration/Animation developing a piece of art to represent the event. A video of the finished piece can be found in the post, below...

KEY MILESTONE ACHIEVED. Our Remote Applications in Challenging Environments (RACE) team has achieved a key milestone of our work for the European Spallation Source ERIC (ESS). RACE is the systems integrator for the ESS’s Active Cells Facility. The ESS is a multi-disciplinary research facility in Lund, Sweden and will be the world’s most powerful neutron source, enabling research in materials, energy, health and the environment. We have successfully delivered the ESS Radiological Safety System Site Acceptance Test, which supports the ESS operational safety case to the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority. This represents eight years of hard work and overcoming challenges; growing through engaging and learning from industry, self-delivery learning and training. RACE now has a Functional Safety Group of seven people who support ESS, RACE and wider programmes. Radiological Safety System Facts & Figures 🔵30,000hrs of resource time 🔵£1m hardware procured, manufacture, installed and commissioning at ESS site 🔵Contract management with a Functional Safety consulting company 🔵30 substantiation documents (2000+ pages) 🔵1000 pages of drawings 🔵20 cubicles 🔵12km cabling 🔵2km of cable managements systems 🔵4000 components 🔵10000 electrical connections All the above have passed through the ESS and UKAEA’s quality assurance requirements. This shows the power of collective thinking and collaborative working. Our functional safety capability can be applied in fusion, fission and Big Science areas. If you are looking to enhance this capability for your work, please send an email to contactus@race.ukaea.uk or find out more by visiting https://lnkd.in/eHFwpjiU We will be happy to discuss and share our knowledge.

We've been amazed by the fantastic gymnastics at the Olympics. The balance, the poise, and the ability to remain clam under so much pressure. It took us back to when MASCOT - a Jenga-playing robot with a human touch used to maintain a fusion energy machine – was reunited with its identical superhero twin. In a result that shocked absolutely no one, MASCOT won the gold and silver medal! 🏅🥈 Find out more about robotics at UKAEA: https://race.ukaea.uk/ #OlympicGames #Paris2024 #Olympics

We were delighted to welcome Kerry McCarthy MP, Minister for Climate at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, to Culham Campus for a tour of our facilities… During the visit Minister McCarthy met with UK Atomic Energy Authority’s Tim Bestwick (Deputy CEO) for an overview of fusion energy, following which there was a meeting with Paul Methven CB (UKIFS CEO) about the STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production - STEPtoFusion) programme. This was followed by a tour of JET with Joe Milnes (Executive Director for Engineering, Computing and STEP Partner) and a meeting with Paula Barham (Director of Procurement). Later in the day there were tours of MAST Upgrade led by Fulvio Militello (Director of Tokamak Science and MAST Upgrade), our Materials Research Facility with Prof Amy Gandy (Head of Programme – Materials Science and Engineering), and the RACE robotics facility with Nick Sykes (RACE Director). Minister McCarthy also took in a tour of the Oxfordshire Advanced Skills apprenticeship centre, led by Emma Johnstone (Operations Manager), finally meeting with Nick Walkden (Head of Fusion Skills) and Justin Kingsford (UKAEA Chief Operating Officer). As part of the days events the Minister also took part in an industry roundtable. Tim Bestwick said: “We were delighted to host Minister McCarthy at UKAEA’s Culham Campus today to share with her the latest developments in the rapidly developing world of fusion. Today’s visit was a great opportunity to demonstrate how fusion can help sustain a low-carbon future as well as the enormous growth opportunity fusion presents for the UK.” We would like to thank Minister McCarthy for taking the time to visit UKAEA.

Congratulations to Celestine Cheong, UKAEA's Head of External Communications, and the England Women's 40 Touch Rugby team on achieving a bronze medal at the 2024 Touch Rugby World Cup. You can read about Celestine's experience by going to the post, below.

Register for the International Topical Workshop on Fukushima-Daiichi Decommissioning Research 2024 (FDR2024)!   FDR promotes a global exchange of information on technologies, operations, management and safety for the Research and Development activities on decommissioning and dismantling of the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Following the successful meetings held in 2019 and 2022, FDR2024 will be held in 10th-13th October 2024 in Fukushima, Japan.   From UKAEA, Professor Rob Buckingham FREng OBE, Executive Director, will give a plenary speech titled as ‘The benefits of a digital twin in support of complex long-term remote operations’. Four other UKAEA researchers will present on robotic and digital technologies for hazardous environments which were developed under the LongOps Project.    Registration is now open ➡ https://lnkd.in/eMybBzKK We hope to see you there!

UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) is pleased to congratulate Dr Lloyd Fletcher, Fusion Technology Team Lead, on being awarded a Future Leaders Fellowship by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)... The Fellowship, with a funded value of £1.5m, was awarded to UKAEA’s Dr Fletcher for a project to develop a new computer-aided qualification framework called Computer Aided Validation (CAV). The aim of the framework is to support engineers validating designs of new technologies, including future fusion powerplants. Once completed, this framework can then be applied to a wide range of low carbon engineering solutions and contribute to enabling sustainable commercial fusion technology in the UK. The £104 million Future Leaders Fellowships funding is split and awarded to 68 promising leaders to develop and commercialise their projects. Dr Fletcher’s fellowship was awarded as part of the eighth round of this funding. Lloyd Fletcher said: “I’m excited to receive this fellowship from UKRI. This project aims to deliver a valuable tool for digital design teams, and I look forward to building the research team.” Prof Michael Gorley, Director of Fusion Technology at UKAEA said: “We are delighted for Lloyd to have received this fellowship, UKAEA’s first Future Leaders Fellowship. The project has potential to make real impact on the commercialisation of fusion energy.” Dr Fletcher’s research will be supported with the £1.5m funding through the Fellowship, alongside additional in-kind support from UKAEA. UKRI’s Future Leaders Fellowships provide funding to researchers and innovators around the UK to commercialise their innovations and lead research into global issues such as energy, environmental and climate issues. UKAEA’s Fusion Technology Division focuses on the development of engineering technology for future fusion powerplants.

"In order to solve some of fusions hardest challenges we really do need extreme-scale computing...". An exciting collaboration between STFC Hartree Centre and the UK Atomic Energy Authority.

Last year we launched the tritium training course to share our knowledge with the wider fusion industry and help drive forward tritium research. Our next course is planned for 20th September 2024... If you are interested in joining, or wish to find out more please contact tritiumtrainingcourse@bd.ukaea.uk or visit our website for more information https://lnkd.in/ghJ9pqty