Award to Jacobs under UKAEA Fusion Industry Programme

13/04/2023

Jacobs will use funding from the Fusion Industry Programme, run by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), to create a liquid lithium testing facility at its Technology & Innovation Centre at Birchwood Park, Warrington, UK. 

Lithium is critical for breeding the hydrogen isotope tritium, an essential fuel for fusion, but there are many knowledge gaps surrounding the behaviour of lithium and the by-products of reactions used to produce it.

The new facility will examine the following: the interaction of lithium with materials inside the fusion machine and any corrosive effects; the effect of oxygen, nitrogen and other impurities in lithium; the properties of lithium under fusion conditions; the development of instrumentation to measure lithium properties and other elements during the fuel breeding process; and the integration of multiple fuel cycle components, for example tritium handling and analysis, fusion materials such as lead and beryllium, coupled with the company’s experience of power plant operations. 

Jacobs’ support of the UKAEA’s fusion programme started in the 1980s with the development of the Joint European Torus experimental tokamak at the UKAEA’s Culham Science Centre, near Oxford, UK.  

The company’s commitment to fusion includes undertaking research, development, engineering, installation and project and construction management for fusion-related programmes, including the UKAEA’s CHIMERA project, based in Rotherham, UK, which is creating a first-of-a-kind facility to test components in the conditions found inside fusion machines: high temperature, heat flux and strong magnetic fields.

“The new liquid lithium testing facility will serve developers of new fusion power technologies. It will be an important addition to Jacobs’ already considerable research capabilities, advancing our strategy to build an unrivalled understanding of the fusion fuel cycle from beginning to end, combined with advanced materials science capability and integrated engineering,” said Greg Willetts, Jacobs’ Vice President for Technology, Consulting & Innovation.

www.jacobs.com

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