“Fusion energy technology holds great potential to be a safe, clean, reliable energy source, but research and development of fusion technology is often constrained by prohibitive costs,” said Under Secretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes.

A contract for Tokamak machine assembly for the ITER International Fusion Energy Organisation signed by a consortium led by China Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation (CNPE) is the biggest nuclear energy project contract that Chinese companies have ever bid for in the European market.

The ITER International Fusion Energy Organisation has awarded a EUR200 million (USD218 million) contract for the Tokamak Assembly (TAC2) to Dynamic. The operation will mostly be performed at the ITER site in Cadarache, France with the engineering and manufacturing support of Dynamic's founding companies - Ansaldo Nucleare, Endel Engie, Orys Group ORTEC, SIMIC, Leading and Ansaldo Energia.

A UK Atomic Energy Authority spokesman told S&P Global Platts the funds were separate to the UK's participation via the EU in the global ITER fusion research project in France.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the ITER International Fusion Energy Organisation are to enhance their cooperation in nuclear fusion research and related activities following the signing of an agreement that expands one signed in 2008.

A research centre to support China's push for nuclear fusion power has been approved. It will be able to test large superconducting magnets and filters under operational conditions. The Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said that having an integrated research facility for key systems of fusion reactors is "one of the major scientific engineering projects" in the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan.

WNN - The UK and the European Commission signed a contract extension today for the world’s largest fusion research facility, Joint European Torus (JET). The extension secures at least EUR100 million (USD112 million) in additional inward investment from the EU over the next two years and "brings reassurance" for the more than 500 staff at the site in Culham, near Oxford, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said.

WNN - The USA should continue its participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project and develop a national research programme towards building a compact pilot plant, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM).

WNN - The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and First Light Fusion are collaborating on a project to convert fusion reactions into heat to enable clean power production. The 'fusion island' project is to be partly funded by a grant from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).