Future for Fusion Roadmap Commercial Fusion with FLARE
Stonehaven
Fusion has long been regarded as a technology with the potential to deliver abundant clean energy.
The UK has long been the world leader in fusion by some distance, from the pioneering days of the ZETA experiment in the 1950s to the ground-breaking achievements of JET at Culham. The UK has the capability and experience to build on this, and Inertial Fusion Energy offers the means to do so.
Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) offers a simpler and quicker route to a commercially viable fusion reactor and yet, while it is appreciated in other countries, receives little to no funding or recognition in the UK. First Light Fusion (FLF) proposes a new IFE reactor concept that avoids the complications of MCF and solves IFE challenges — and can be deployed commercially by 2035. The concept centres on FLFs unique fuel target design, enabling a multitude of market ready technologies (many that are considered technology readiness level 7+) to come together to form a simple and commercially viable fusion reactor. Leveraging FLFs ground-breaking FLARE (Fusion via Low-power Assembly and Rapid Excitation) method of fusion, the reactor can achieve up to 1000x gain.
The fusion race is on. The US and China are deploying their immense resources to cross the finish line to commercial fusion deployment first. By 2035, there will be fusion on the grid in both of these superpowers. The UK cannot compete in a straight race; it must diversify its fusion portfolio if it is to remain a legitimate competitor.
The policy landscape in the UK as it is currently will not allow the timely deployment of commercial fusion, via FLARE or any other method. Vague regulatory frameworks, restrictive regulators that lack expertise and capacity, protracted planning laws and grid connection bottlenecks all mean that the UK risks ceding its position as the fusion world leader to China or the US.
This paper by First Light Fusion and Stonehaven calls for targeted regulatory reforms that can make Britain the best place in the world to build fusion capability. It outlines the need for IFE recognition alongside MCF in the UK’s Fusion Strategy, proper regulation that differentiates fusion from fission, and an emphasis placed on Britain’s AI and experimental capability, which will showcase the country’s fusion value chain to potential investors.
The paper also highlights the importance of collaboration across industry, academia and government. Industry brings the capacity to innovate, manufacture, and scale reactor technologies; academia contributes vital research and talent to address scientific and engineering challenges; and government must provide the regulatory frameworks, investment, and long-term policy certainty necessary to de-risk private capital.
Adam Bell, Director of Policy at Stonehaven, said:
“There is a fusion race, and it is a race Britain can win. Thanks to our decades of research, we stand ready to lead the world in its deployment – if we can get our act together in time. We need to ensure people who want to build fusion reactors in the UK can do so in confidence that they will be allowed to do so. If we don’t, we’ll see our lead and our expertise go overseas. Britain needs to be the easiest place in the world to build a fusion reactor.”
