AtkinsRéalis to work on commercial fusion reactor in Tennessee

Teams from the UK and US will combine their fusion and engineering expertise to support the development of a commercial-scale “stellerator”, a set of magnets that contains the fusion plasma.

Type One’s Fusion Pilot Plant (FPP) will comprise state-of-the-art superconducting magnets. These will control plasma with temperatures of more than 100 million degrees Celsius, generating a continuous fusion reaction.

AtkinsRéalis, which has migrated from contracting to professional services and project management, will provide multidisciplinary engineering services to develop pre-concept designs and a preliminary site layout.

The company will aim to reduce risk and optimise cost for the FPP.

Joe St Julian, AtkinsRéalis’ president of nuclear, commented today in a press statement: “Fusion has the potential to provide the world with a virtually limitless and environmentally responsible source of power to advance the global energy transition.

“By combining AtkinsRéalis’ global fusion experience and world-class design and engineering services with Type One Energy’s stellarator technology, together we’re advancing the commercial deployment of fusion energy.”

Earlier this year, Type One announced the selection of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Bull Run Fossil Plant in Clinton, Tennessee, as the site for its “Infinity One” prototype.

This device will validate design features that will be incorporated into the FPP.

Gregg Schneider, Type One’s vice president of global partnerships, said: “We believe that developing long-term business and functional level relationships will serve both parties as additional work scopes are contemplated over the next decade.”

Type One Energy was established in 2019 by a team of fusion scientists. It aims to apply advanced manufacturing methods, modern computational physics and high-field superconducting magnets to develop its optimised stellarator.

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