Physicists at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory have proposed that the formation of "hills and valleys" in magnetic field lines could be the source of sudden collapses of heat ahead of disruptions that can damage doughnut-shaped tokamak fusion facilities. Their discovery could help overcome a critical challenge facing such facilities.

A consortium led by Atkins as prime contractor, alongside Assystem, has been appointed by the UK Atomic Energy Authority as Engineering Delivery Partner to its Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production programme.

The 25th batch of electrical equipment has been delivered, in 14 trailers, to the construction site of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor in the south of France.

Two identical remotely-operated manipulators used to maintain the Joint European Torus fusion energy machine at the Culham Science Centre in Oxfordshire, UK, are being tested in a series of practice 'rescue missions', where each saves its stranded twin.

The UK Atomic Energy Authority and the USA's Commonwealth Fusion Systems have signed a five-year Collaboration Framework Agreement aimed at advancing commercial fusion energy.

Fusion energy company TAE Technologies has received investments to fund the construction of its sixth-generation research reactor that it says will demonstrate the viability of net energy from TAE's approach. The announcement came as TAE's fifth-generation reactor, Norman, has sustained stable plasma at more than 75 million degrees Celsius, 250% higher than its original goal.

The Global Fusion Industry in 2022 report says that USD2.83 billion of investment was declared by private nuclear fusion companies over the past year. 

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project says that the impact of COVID-19 means that its current schedule, of first plasma in 2025 and the start of deuterium-tritium operation in 2035, will need to be delayed, with the new timetable to be finalised and announced after the appointment of a new director general.

Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has delivered equipment for confirming and demonstrating the safety of the 'blanket' of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. The blanket is one of the components that comprises the inner wall of the fusion reactor.

Future fusion energy facilities will continue to be regulated by the Environment Agency and Health & Safety Executive, the UK government has confirmed in its response to a consultation seeking views on the regulatory framework for ensuring the safe and effective rollout of fusion energy. Fission power plants are regulated by the Office for Nuclear Regulation.

A new laser-welding robotic "snake" developed by the UK Atomic Energy Authority's robotics research centre has demonstrated its capability to operate inside nuclear fusion plant pipework in trials at the Culham Science Centre near Oxford.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Plasma Science and Fusion Center is to expand its fusion energy research and education activities under a new five-year agreement with its spinout company Commonwealth Fusion Systems.