Oxford Sigma proudly announces its expansion to a new location at the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority’s (UKAEA) Culham Campus near Oxford, England.
Oxford Sigma has a longstanding relationship with UKAEA through its collaborations on tungsten plasma-facing components, supporting young people through the UKAEA Fusion Industry Programme (FIP) Summer Placement Scheme, and through regular involvement in technological development of the pioneering Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) programme.
The new location accommodates Oxford Sigma’s growth in Oxfordshire and brings the company into the heart of the UK fusion ecosystem. UKAEA’s Culham Campus, is a powerhouse of high technology innovation and enterprise. Oxford Sigma’s presence at the campus will cement the company’s position as a technology partner on the delivery of STEP, a prototype fusion energy powerplant, which aims to generate electricity for the National Grid in the 2040s. The campus is an ideal match for Oxford Sigma’s mission to deliver materials technology, materials solutions, and fusion design services in order to accelerate the commercialisation of fusion energy.
‘Fusion energy is one of the greatest scientific and engineering challenges of our time, which needs public and private fusion companies to work closely with industry to help realise fusion’s potential in the global fight against climate change and energy security.
‘It is great that UKAEA and Oxford Sigma are working together to develop fusion energy, and we extend a warm welcome to the team joining our growing fusion cluster at the Culham Campus. Partnerships between UKAEA and advanced technology organisations such as Oxford Sigma are helping fusion energy on its journey to becoming a safe and sustainable part of the world’s low carbon energy supply.‘
~ Tim Bestwick, Chief Development Officer, UKAEA
‘Our longstanding relationship with UKAEA has been core to Oxford Sigma’s success both in the UK and abroad and to our growth in the fusion industry. Culham Campus represents the origin of fusion activities in the UK, and is the site of many exciting developments for the future.
We are excited to be moving onto the site and engaging with the burgeoning fusion supply chain forming around Culham Campus. The cluster of technology, engineering, and science companies that UKAEA have attracted present a genuine proposition to commercial fusion development and we are delighted to be a part of this industrial journey.’
~ Dr Thomas Davis, Co-founder and CTO, Oxford Sigma
About UK Atomic Energy Authority
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) is the UK’s national organisation responsible for the research and delivery of sustainable fusion energy. It is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Fusion energy has great potential to deliver safe, sustainable, low carbon energy for generations to come. It is based on the same processes that power the Sun and stars, and would form part of the world’s future energy mix. Achieving this is a major technical challenge that involves working at the forefront of science, engineering, and technology.
UKAEA’s programmes include the MAST-Upgrade (Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak) fusion experiment and the JET (Joint European Torus) fusion research facility. JET is operated by UKAEA at its Culham Campus near Oxford, on behalf of EUROfusion scientists and engineers.
STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) is UKAEA’s ambitious programme to accelerate the delivery of fusion energy, with plans to deliver a prototype powerplant producing net electricity in the 2040s in Nottinghamshire.
In 2021, UKAEA opened its Fusion Technology Facility near Rotherham in South Yorkshire, to develop and test materials and components for future fusion powerplants.
UKAEA also undertakes cutting edge work with academia, other research organisations and the industrial supply chain in a wide spectrum of areas, including robotics and materials.
More information: https://www.gov.uk/ukaea. Social Media: @UKAEAofficial
About fusion energy
When a mix of two forms of hydrogen (deuterium and tritium) is heated to form a controlled plasma at extreme temperatures – 10 times hotter than the core of the Sun – they fuse together to create helium and release energy which can be harnessed to produce electricity.
There is more than one way of achieving this. UKAEA’s approach is to hold this hot plasma using strong magnets in a ring-shaped machine called a ‘tokamak’. The energy created from fusion can be used to generate electricity in the same way as existing power stations.
About Oxford Sigma
Oxford Sigma is a fusion technology company tackling energy security and climate change by accelerating the commercialisation of fusion energy. Oxford Sigma’s mission is to deliver materials technology, materials solutions, and fusion design services in order to accelerate the commercialisation of fusion energy. Oxford Sigma is internationally recognised as a key fusion materials and technological leader within the market. The company operates in the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada, and Japan.
Get in touch at [email protected]