What is fusion fuel?

The fuels needed for maximum fusion power can be found in the land and sea. At UKAEA, we use a mix of deuterium and tritium. They’re isotopes of hydrogen which can fuse together and release lots of energy.

Deuterium can be extracted from seawater and is relatively easy to find – it’s tritium that poses more challenges. Tritium is a scarce and valuable resource. The good news is it can be produced from lithium, an element abundant in the earth’s crust and seawater. To do this, we’re working on something called a ‘breeder blanket’. This is a blanket of lithium added to a tokamak. The neutrons from the plasma will then react with the lithium, producing the tritium needed for fusion.

UKAEA has been safely handling, processing and storing tritium for more than 40 years. With our H3AT and LIBRTI programmes, we’re working to develop a self-sustaining fusion fuel cycle. Our tokamak JET pioneered deuterium-tritium experiments, and it’s looking like this mix will get us to fusion on the grid.

---