Oxford Sigma, in collaboration with STEP Fusion, Rockwood Cryogenics and Atled Engineering, has successfully demonstrated a new quench protection concept for superconducting magnets: an essential step toward realising safe, commercially viable fusion powerplants. The innovation, tested at the University of Strathclyde, acts as a “safety valve” for fusion magnets by safely redirecting and dispersing stored energy in the event of a quench, preventing dangerous hotspots and protecting magnet integrity.
This breakthrough represents a significant advancement for the UK’s Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) programme, which aims to deliver a prototype fusion powerplant at West Burton by 2040. Central to the demonstration was a specially designed coil manufactured by Oxford Sigma, internationally recognised for developing advanced fusion materials and technologies for extreme environments, alongside Rockwood Cryogenics, a leading provider of high-performance cryogenic composite solutions.
The successful demonstration provides a safer and smarter method of protecting the critical Toroidal Field (TF) coils responsible for confining plasma within the tokamak. This development further demonstrates the strength of UK innovation and cross sector collaboration in addressing fusion’s most demanding engineering challenges.
Howard Wilson, Director of Science and Technology for STEP Fusion, commented:
“This breakthrough shows how UK expertise across sectors is helping solve fusion’s toughest engineering challenges.”
Mélanie Bombardiere, Head of Commercial, Oxford Sigma said
“We are proud to contribute our advanced materials technology to this milestone, as it helps drive innovation and support the development of safe and reliable fusion power for the future.”
About Oxford Sigma
Oxford Sigma is a Fusion Technology company with a vision to tackle energy security and climate change by accelerating the commercialisation of fusion energy. Our mission is to deliver materials technology, materials solutions, and fusion design services. Oxford Sigma aims to produce advanced materials technologies, agnostic to fusion approach, for the materials ecosystem. Our fusion core materials are engineered to enable longer term operations for fusion pilot plants, with the aim of roll out to the first-of-a-kind commercial power stations. Oxford Sigma is internationally recognised as a key fusion materials and technological leader.
Get in touch at [email protected]
About Rockwood Cryogenics
Rockwood Cryogenics, part of The Rockwood Group, delivers high-performance cryogenic composite solutions. They are specialised in the manufacture of components and assemblies engineered from advanced materials, all destined for demanding, low-temperature applications.
About Atled Engineering
Atled Engineering provides advanced finite element modelling and analysis for high temperature superconductors, specialising in HTS magnet design, quench and AC loss studies, and electromagnetic thermal simulations for fusion and other complex scientific applications.
About STEP Fusion
STEP Fusion (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) is the UK’s flagship programme to develop a prototype fusion powerplant, combining government and industry expertise to deliver clean, abundant energy.
www.stepfusion.com