Tokamak Energy, a British company aiming to commercially generate electricity using fusion energy, signed a five-year framework agreement with the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), the country’s government research organization responsible for the development of fusion energy, to collaborate on the development of spherical tokamaks.

Under this agreement, the two companies will carry out joint technology development and share the use of equipment facilities and employees. The focus of the collaboration will include materials development and testing, power generation, fuel cycle, diagnostics, and remote handling.

Currently, both companies have operational spherical tokamak devices and Tokamak Energy’s ST40 generator recently achieved a plasma temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius, which is the threshold required for commercial fusion energy. 

Tokamak Energy also aims to launch its next device soon, with plans for it to be commissioned mid-decade. It will be the world’s first high-field spherical tokamak and will be able to; 1) demonstrate the full potential of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets, 2) indicate the technologies required for fusion energy, and 3) provide input on the way the company’s first commercial fusion power pilot plant should be designed to deliver net electricity to the grid.