- Culham Campus has pioneered world-leading fusion research since 1965, setting global performance records
- Scientists and engineers in Culham contribute to the UK’s prototype fusion power plant programme, STEP Fusion
- UKAEA’s fusion research directly supports the government’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower
Culham Campus, home of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), celebrates its 60-year anniversary this month.
The Oxfordshire site that began as a wartime airfield has developed into a world-renowned centre for fusion energy research since opening in 1965. It is known for housing the iconic Joint European Torus (JET) experiment, which, over its 40-year operation, demonstrated the ability to reliably generate fusion energy, while twice setting the world-record for energy output.
The Campus hosts more than 3,000 people working on cutting-edge research and experiments to solve the major challenges for building commercial fusion power plants. This includes the innovative MAST Upgrade fusion machine, the Remote Applications in Challenging Environments (RACE) robotics centre, the Materials Research Facility (MRF), the H3AT Tritium Loop, and other facilities to design and test fusion components and manufacturing methods.
UKAEA’s mission to lead the delivery of sustainable fusion energy is exemplified in the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) Fusion programme to design and build a prototype fusion power plant, putting fusion energy on the UK grid in the 2040s. Being built at West Burton in Nottinghamshire, STEP will be supported by hundreds of Culham-based scientists and engineers contributing to this groundbreaking project.
Dr Tim Bestwick, Chief Executive Officer at UKAEA, said:
“Fusion promises to be a safe, sustainable part of the world’s future energy supply and Culham is at the very heart of global fusion development.
“The reputation for world-leading research is at least as strong at Culham today as it was 60 years ago, and Culham is ideally placed to drive the delivery of sustainable fusion energy for future generations.
Culham Campus was previously a requisitioned military airfield, Royal Naval Air Station Culham (also known as HMS Hornbill), from 1944 until 1953. UKAEA then expanded its fusion research programme from its Harwell campus to Culham in 1965.
UKAEA explored several early fusion concepts at Culham including linear pinches, reversed field pinches and stellarators. Focus shifted to tokamaks in the 1970s with fusion machines TOSCA, DITE, COMPASS, and eventually JET.
For over 40 years, JET led the global fusion industry in plasma experiments, positioning the UK as a world leader for fusion energy development. Now in the JET Decommissioning and Repurposing (JDR) programme, Culham Campus continues to build on the knowledge and data amassed during its operation, contributing to other global fusion experiments including MAST Upgrade, STEP Fusion and ITER, the international collaboration to build the world’s largest tokamak in the South of France.
Spherical tokamak concepts were developed at Culham in the 1990s, leading to the MAST and MAST Upgrade experiments which now form the basis of the design for the UK’s prototype fusion power plant, STEP Fusion.
Alongside the fusion programme, hi-tech business is flourishing on the campus, hosting over 45 commercial organisations ranging from dynamic start-ups to established international enterprises. Culham Campus offers flexible office, laboratory, and workshop space suitable for start-ups, scale-ups, and established tech firms, making it a key part of Oxfordshire’s success as a science and innovation capital.
Find out more at a special exhibition in Abingdon-on-Thames marking 60 years of Culham Campus. The exhibition is part of Abingdon Heritage Weekend and will be held at Unit 25, Bury Street Shopping Centre on Saturday 13 September and Sunday 14 September, 10:00-4:00pm.
Details at https://www.abingdonheritage.org.uk/festivalprogramme.
