A main theme of the UK Fusion Materials Roadmap 2.0 is power plant readiness. Learnings are emerging from close working with the STEP (UK fusion power plant) design team. They increasingly inform perspectives on synergistic testing requirements, fuel breeder maturity and supply chain gaps.
While this national ‘labour of love’ provides UK perspectives, the intended audience is global. We hope the roadmap is a calling card from the academic, industrial and national lab community in UK fusion, and that collaborators further afield will use this document as an entry point for new discussions.
Globally, fusion power development has progressed significantly. However, many scientific and engineering challenges still need solving to realise commercial fusion in the coming decades. Many of these challenges relate to the materials used in the construction of future fusion power stations.
Throughout 2024 and early 2025, over 100 researchers from across UK industry, academia and national labs came together. Already working to develop materials for fusion energy, they identified the main materials-related challenges that need solving for the UK to achieve commercial fusion. They also considered the skills, infrastructure and capabilities needed.
The UK fusion materials communities identified five major research areas and four cross-cutting themes.
Contents:
- Introduction
- Magnets and shielding
- Tritium breeding
- High temperature materials
- Radiation hardened materials
- Modelling and simulation
Research areas
The five research areas are:
- magnets and shielding
- tritium breeding – production, anti-permeation barriers, and corrosion resistant coatings
- high temperature materials – plasma facing and structural materials
- radiation hardened (Rad Hard) materials
- modelling and simulation
Cross-cutting challenges
The four cross-cutting challenges are:
- regulation, codes and standards, assurance and qualification
- people – skills, training, and developing UK capabilities
- waste management
- supply chain
This roadmap explores the technical challenges identified in depth. It highlights the specific facilities and infrastructure required. However, we hope the roadmap is accessible to those of you not currently working in fusion, but in adjacent areas where your skills and expertise can be applied to solve these challenges. We also hope this roadmap serves as an open invitation to our international colleagues to continue working together to make fusion power a reality.