Sir Patrick Vallance travels to Oxfordshire to visit The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and First Light Fusion (FLF)
Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, today visited UKAEA and FLF joined by Bill Lee, Chief Scientific Adviser (Nuclear) at the Ministry of Defence.
UKAEA, based in the Culham Science Centre, is the UK government research organisation responsible for the development of fusion energy. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
During his visit, Sir Patrick learned about transformative potential of fusion energy in the global fight against climate change. Specifically, he received a briefing on STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production), the first prototype fusion energy powerplant, He also received presentations from several innovative companies based at the Culham Science Centre including General Fusions, Reaction Engines and Oxbotica.
Following his visit to UKAEA, Sir Patrick met the team at FLF, which focuses on decarbonising the global energy system through an inertial confinement approach. Sir Patrick was given facility tours of the Big Friendly Gun (BFG), the highest energy projectile launcher in the UK, and Machine 3 (M3), the largest pulsed power facility in Europe.
Speaking about the visit, Sir Patrick said:
Professor Ian Chapman, UKAEA Chief Executive, added: