AtkinsRéalis selected to design fusion energy plant
July 10, 2024
By Peter Saunders
Rendering courtesy Type One Energy.
Type One Energy has selected Canadian consulting engineering firm AtkinsRéalis to develop the pre-concept design for a pilot fusion energy plant.
The commercial-scale plant is being planned to demonstrate the potential of clean, safe and affordable power generation from fusion energy. AtkinsRéalis’ fusion and engineering teams will work together to develop plant requirements, pre-conceptual facility designs and a preliminary site layout, seeking to reduce risk and optimize costs.
“This program is the first step in a strategic partnership with Type One,” explains Jason Dreisbach, director of advanced energy technologies for AtkinsRéalis. “With our global fusion expertise, we are uniquely positioned to support the transition of their fusion technology into a commercially viable and sustainable source of energy to power a net-zero future.”
Type One was established in 2019 and venture-backed in 2023. Earlier this year, the company selected a building site in Clinton, Tenn., for Infinity One, a device intended to validate key design features that will then be incorporated into the commercial-scale plant. Both the device and the plant will use Type One’s stellarator technology (rendering pictured), where a series of superconducting magnets controls plasma at temperatures over 1 million C to generate a continuous fusion reaction, release energy and generate electricity.
“We selected AtkinsRéalis because of its subject matter expertise across engineering, planning and deployment, as well as its knowledge and market presence in the emerging fusion space,” says Gregg Schneider, Type One’s vice-president (VP) of global partnerships and supply chain Management. “We believe developing long-term business and functional-level relationships will serve both parties as additional work scopes are contemplated over the next decade.”
AtkinsRéalis’ fusion energy research and development (R&D) efforts have involved partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DoE’s) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and supporting the delivery of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in Cadarache, France since 2010.
