Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production

Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP), is a spherical tokamak concept proposed by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and funded by UK government.[1][2] The project aims to produce net electricity from fusion on a timescale of 2040.

In September 2019 the United Kingdom announced a planned £200-million (US$248-million) investment to produce a design for a fusion facility named the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP). The funding covers the initial five year concept design phase. Once this phase is complete, a second detailed engineering design phase will precede construction of the device, which should be operational by the early 2040s.

Similar projects

Like ITER, the planned UK facility would be based on a ‘tokamak’ design that uses magnetic fields to confine a plasma of heavy isotopes of hydrogen, tritium and deuterium, which fuse under extreme heat and pressure. But whereas ITER's tokamak is doughnut-shaped, STEP would be a spherical tokamak that holds the plasma in a more compact, cored-apple shape. UKAEA’s MAST Upgrade spherical tokamak device, due to start operation in late 2020, will heavily inform the STEP design.

Britain is just one of a number of countries planning to build a commercial reactor. A Chinese facility known as the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor could come online as early as 2035, and DEMO, a European successor to ITER, is planned for the 2050s. A number of companies around the world are also hoping to achieve fusion electricity from a wide range of potential technologies.

See also

References
  1. uk-wants-to-build-worlds-first-fusion-power-plant-20-years-from-now 2019
  2. Gibney, Elizabeth (2019-10-11). "UK hatches plan to build world's first fusion power plant". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-03039-9.
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