JET fusion research facility performs final plasma experiment in Oxfordshire

The Culham campus near Oxford was the scene of the final plasma experiment by the Joint European Torus (JET) before the research facility is moved towards a decommissioning phase.

JET is operated by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) at the latter's campus near Oxford on behalf of EUROfusion scientists and engineers.

READ MORE: UKAEA and Tokamak Energy to collaborate on developing spherical tokamak technology for commercial fusion energy

Around 40 years after it delivered its first pulse on June 25, 1983, JET delivered pulse number 105,842 on December 18.

"This is the final milestone in JET’s 40-year history," said UKAEA CEO Professor Sir Ian Chapman, who attended JET’s control room for the final plasma experiment.

"Those decades of research using JET by dedicated teams of scientists and engineers have played a critical role in accelerating the development of fusion energy.”

And the final day continued to push scientific boundaries.

Jet attempted an inverted plasma shape for the first time at Culham before deliberately aiming electrons at the inner wall to improve understanding of beam control and damage mechanisms, said UKAEA.

The findings of these experiments will support the development of ITER - the international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject.

ITER sees 35 nations collaborating on building the world's largest tokamak, a device designed to prove the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale and carbon-free source of energy based on the same principle that powers the Sun and stars.

UKAEA said JET will now move to the next phase early in 2024 - for repurposing and decommissioning - which will last until around 2040.

UKAEA has also set up the spherical tokamak for energy production (STEP) programme to deliver a prototype fusion powerplant in Nottinghamshire, aiming for 2040. The first stage of that programme is to produce a concept design by 2024.

The 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 government's department for energy security and net zero.

Fusion energy has the potential to deliver safe, sustainable, low carbon energy for generations. It is based on the same processes that power the Sun and stars, and would form part of the globe's future energy mix.

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