UK’s Tokamak Energy to test fusion magnets in US power plant
Tokamak Energy‘s innovative magnet technology is set to undergo extreme testing at a United States national laboratory to examine its lifetime performance for fusion power plants.
The magnets will be exposed to power plant representative dose rates of gamma radiation at the Gamma Irradiation Facility (GIF) in Albuquerque.
The New Mexico-based laboratory is one of the few in the world capable of hosting the system during testing.
Research and analysis will take six months to be carried out at the powerful facility, which can complete a 60-year lifetime test in two weeks.
Tokamak Energy developed its gamma radiation cryostat system at its Oxfordshire headquarters, which will now be reconstructed at the GIF for testing.
Dr Rod Bateman, HTS Magnet Development Manager at Tokamak Energy, said: “Our pioneering magnet technology must withstand extreme conditions to keep fusion power plants running in the future.
“The specialist Sandia Laboratory is ideally configured to test magnet durability and performance when exposed to gamma radiation. It is essential to push the boundaries now as we scale up our operations towards commercial fusion.”
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