The west is in a race with China to develop nuclear fusion energy, according to Professor Dennis Whyte, chief executive of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), who said commercialising the technology would be “one of the most important geopolitical events ever”. Whyte, who took up the UKAEA role in September, noted the UK has world-leading fusion programmes but that China is rapidly advancing both technology and supply chains. He described the competition as “a pretty good race” based on China’s impressive capabilities built in a short time.
Whyte previously led MIT’s nuclear science and engineering department and co-founded Commonwealth Fusion Systems, backed by Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures. He highlighted recent progress, including the US National Ignition Facility’s 2022 net energy gain milestone and advances in superconducting magnets that reduce reactor power needs. The Mast Upgrade fusion machine in Culham, Oxfordshire, has seen breakthroughs in pressure achievement, and UK Fusion Energy aims to develop a prototype plant by 2040 at the former West Burton coal site in Nottinghamshire.
Whyte stressed that meeting price points for fusion energy is a new revelation, given its potential to release roughly 10 million times more energy per kilogramme of fuel than fossil fuels. While record funding follows laboratory breakthroughs, he acknowledged tempered optimism over whether progress and future electricity prices are being overhyped.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing