This year’s IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, held this Spring, reflected the priorities of the new era in fusion energy research. The ITER experiment is fast taking shape in France, private sector investment in fusion is at an all-time high, and power plant design work is underway around the globe.
The IAEA conference – often dubbed the Olympics of fusion – is the leading international platform for sharing the results of research and development efforts in the drive to bring the world low-carbon energy from fusion. Held every two years, the 2021 event was organised by France, but took place online due to COVID restrictions.
In addition to UKAEA being a sponsor of the event, we contributed to the scientific discussion with a range of presentations. Seventeen UKAEA staff highlighted their work at the conference, with topics including latest results from the MAST Upgrade and JET tokamaks, and simulations and studies for ITER and future power plants. See the full list of UKAEA speakers below.
In 2023, it will be the UK’s turn to host the IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, for the first time since the 1980s. We look forward to welcoming this prestigious event to London and to showcasing our progress in bringing fusion to the grid.