Five Lower Sixth students visited the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) site in Culham this week to celebrate their successful completion of the EDT Gold Industrial Cadets project. The visit provided a unique opportunity to be immersed into and see world-leading fusion research in action. We were able to explore how the challenges they had been tackling throughout their project are being addressed in real scientific environments.
Over the past year, students have worked alongside UKAEA on a project to develop a solution to a dropped radioactive sample retrieval problem. During the visit, we saw first hand how similar challenges that presented in the project are managed within the UK’s fusion research programme. It was interesting to see that many of the conclusions reached by the team are the same conclusions reached by the UKAEA teams on a much larger scale.
A huge highlight of the day was visiting the Joint European Torus (JET), the internationally renowned fusion reactor that operated for over four decades before being decommissioned in 2023. We learnt how fusion reactions are created using isotopes of hydrogen heated to temperatures of around 150 million degrees Celsius and contained using powerful magnetic fields. Standing beside the reactor itself, students and I were struck by its scale.
“Absolutely vast.”
As we toured the facility with our wonderful guide Ian, we gained an appreciation just how complex fusion research is, and the amount of engineering required to operate safely at such extreme temperatures.
“We learnt a lot about the technology required for fusion as well as the infrastructure systems that this country is operating.”
The most fascinating insight is the current decommissioning of the JET fusion reactor. The decommissioning process is itself acting as an important source of learning, helping scientists and engineers understand which materials perform best under extreme conditions and will inform the design of future fusion power plants.
“There is careful planning and care that needs to be put into a project of this scale.”
“This is not a one-person job, but fundamentally a collaborative effort.”
Perhaps the most exciting moment for us was seeing the remotely operated Mascot robots used to inspect and maintain areas that are no longer safe for human access. Having spent months designing and building their own remote-controlled retrieval system for the EDT Gold project, students immediately recognised many of the same principles being applied.
“Seeing this overlap was exciting. Whilst our efforts paled in comparison to the incredible technology we saw, it still proved to us the necessity of such robots when working with radiation, giving our project more purpose.”
We were also fortunate enough to have a tour of the Materials Research Facility, seeing advanced scientific equipment used to investigate how materials behave under the extreme conditions created within fusion reactors. We had the opportunity speak directly with scientists and engineers working in the field and understand the process that happens when they are trying to identify what radioactive material is being delivered to them and how it can be a surprise as some samples end up not being what they expected them to be!
“All of the people that toured us around and talked to us were incredibly knowledgeable and kind, which put me at ease to ask questions and find out more.”
“Seeing the experts at work first hand was inspiring.”
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to UKAEA, particularly their project mentor Naresh and tour guide Ian, whose expertise, enthusiasm and generosity with their time helped make the visit such a memorable experience.
“It was a privilege to get such insight into a fascinating and relevant sector.”
“It was a very positive and informative experience.”
The visit was a fitting conclusion to an outstanding EDT Gold project. A huge well done to the team!
Miss Ballie-Whyte, Teacher of Physics
