University of Birmingham secures £800k for fusion innovation

THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM has secured £800,000 (US$1m) to develop tritium breeding technology “essential” for future fusion projects across the globe.

Part of the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s (UKAEA) £200m Lithium Breeding Tritium Innovation (LIBERTI) programme, the funding will allow the university to develop a small lithium breeder for tritium production.

Tritium is one of the hydrogen isotopes, along with deuterium, needed for a fusion reaction to create energy. Unlike deuterium, which is easily extracted from seawater, tritium reserves are scarce and must be “bred”.

Yu-Lung Chiu, professor of physical metallurgy at the University of Birmingham, said: “The inventory of tritium is very low and therefore research into producing (breeding) tritium is a priority for fusion.”

Lithium ceramic

The University of Birmingham is leading the project in partnership with Bangor University, Wales, and will be developing a breeder which contains lithium ceramic.

Breeding uses lithium-containing blankets which react with fusion neutrons in plasma to form tritium. This tritium can then be recycled into the plasma as fuel.

Future fusion plants producing large amounts of power will be required to produce their own tritium , with European research facility ITER currently trialling large-scale tritium production and recycling.

Lithium-containing ceramics have been shown to be strong breeding materials for fusion reactor blankets due to their thermal stability and tritium release characteristics. The university will specifically be using ceramics as they will be able to breed out tritium under neutron irradiation.

Along with the breeder project, the university is also involved in four other projects with the UKAEA.

The LIBERTI programme

The UKAEA’s LIBERTI programme includes 12 small-scale experimental and digital projects in partnership with the likes of Lancaster University, the University of Edinburgh, and private fusion company Tokamak Energy.

Across a four-year period, the programme is looking to demonstrate controlled tritium building, with the 12 projects expected to produce new tritium transport models, the development of novel breeder materials and diagnostics, and digital platforms for the testbed facility.

The small-scale projects are expected to run to March 2026.