Dr Amy Gandy, Senior Lecturer in Nuclear Materials Engineering in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, played a vital role in the development of the first UK Fusion Materials Roadmap which sets out the research objectives needed to adopt nuclear fusion as a commercial source of power in the UK.
In her role on the Editorial Panel for the Roadmap, Dr Gandy, a member of the University of Sheffield's Energy Institute, called on her expertise in fusion reactor materials to contribute to the creation of a challenging yet realistic plan for future research. The report sets out the work research institutions need to undertake if fusion energy generation in the UK is to become a reality in the form of a Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) powerplant.
Nuclear fusion promises a near limitless, clean source of energy and has the potential to play a major role in how the UK and countries around the world reduce their carbon emissions, while still generating the electricity needed to power industries and heat homes.
The technique produces electricity by mimicking the process by which the sun produces heat and light. It fuses gas particles together by either using shockwaves induced by a laser beam or by using incredibly strong superconducting magnets.
However, the technology is still in an experimental phase and no nuclear fusion reactors have been used to generate electricity yet. One of the major challenges in deploying the technology is developing materials that can withstand the extreme environment inside a nuclear fusion reactor.
Dr Gandy, an expert in nuclear materials engineering at the University’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, has recently been awarded a prestigious Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Engineering to support her ongoing research into the complex alloys needed to withstand the hostile environment of a fusion reactor.
Dr Gandy commented: “The publication of the Fusion Materials Roadmap will make the challenges of fusion materials research accessible to a wider range of researchers. Hopefully, this will enable more people to apply their expertise to this area, ultimately helping to realise fusion as a commercial source of power.”
The Roadmap delivery team called on the expertise of more than 100 experts in materials science from UK research institutions and industry to ensure a thorough review of current capabilities, and oversight of the true potential of the technology. Included in the team of experts consulted alongside Dr Gandy were Professor Neil Hyatt, Professor Iain Todd and Professor Russell Goodall all from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield.
The full Roadmap, published by UKAEA and The Henry Royce Institute for advanced materials, can be found here: https://mrf.ukaea.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/UK-Fusion-Materials-Roadmap-030921-Interactive.pdf