Nuclear fusion breakthrough for spinout co-founded by UCL scientist

Yiannis Ventikos - First Light Fusion, which was co-founded by UCL's Head of Mechanical Engineering, Professor Yiannis Ventikos, has declared a world first in nuclear fusion. The Oxford University spinout has managed to accomplish the reaction by using a unique projectile method for the first time. The approach used by First Light Fusion has now been verified by the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and involves using a 22-metre gas gun to fire a 100g projectile at 6.5km a second at a fuel pellet containing tritium and deuterium. It is not only faster and cheaper than traditional fusion approaches, but also offers a simpler pathway to producing fusion energy using existing plant technology. Professor Ventikos, the Kennedy Professor of Mechanical Engineering at UCL, said: "While achieving fusion in the lab is a tremendous success in its own right, the context is equally important. True to First Light's rigorous scientific approach, this result is supported by strong and continuously evolving computer modelling. This capability sheds light, in exquisite detail, into the processes that generate these neutrons.