Tokamak Energy tops the charts in fusion energy research for 2017

Tokamak Energy 20 December 2017

Research charting new route to fusion holds top three positions in ‘most read’ charts Oxfordshire based company research papers hold top spot for third year running

While Ed Sheeran battles it out for the Christmas number one, fusion scientists have their own charts of exciting results, the Nuclear Fusion journal’s ‘most read’ papers chart. This year the chart topper comes from UK private company, Tokamak Energy, that unveiled ‘ST40’ its prototype fusion power reactor earlier this year.

This will be the third year in a row when the Oxfordshire based company has been top of the ‘Nuclear Fusion Journal’s most read list. The journal is the acknowledged world-leading journal specialising in fusion energy, covering all aspects of research, relevant to controlled thermonuclear fusion.

The research papers that are grabbing the attention of the scientific community are based on challenging the conventional view that Tokamaks need to be large in size to produce high energy gain and outline a faster way to the holy grail of fusion energy.

Numerous private companies have tried to make progress in the past, but none – until Tokamak Energy – has produced the solid scientific evidence that has held the attention of the scientific community. The work is controversial, but it is taking the normally quiet scientific world of fusion research by storm.

The company is currently making preparations to achieve conditions hotter than the centre of the sun in its current device and in March next year will take part in a special meeting at the Royal Society, where industry leaders will debate whether there is a way to accelerate the development of fusion energy using tokamaks.

Dr David Kingham, Co-founder of Tokamak Energy,
“A faster way to fusion is possible, and our peer-reviewed and published research lays the foundation to achieve this.

“It’s Important to contribute to, as well as benefit from the scientific work that has been conducted in industry to date. In our work we’ve challenged the conventional view that Tokamak’s need to be large in size and our analysis has shown that we can achieve high energy gain within a relatively compact device.”