Europe · UK · Founded 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2026
Tokamak Energy
Magnetic confinement — spherical tokamak
Magnetic
Deuterium-Tritium
≈ £250M cumulative
Demonstration plant ~2030; commercial 2030s
Investor brief
Spherical tokamaks and the UK's de facto HTS magnet supplier
Executive Summary
Tokamak Energy is the UK's spherical-tokamak pioneer and the de facto HTS magnet supplier to the UK fusion programme. Its ST40 reached 100 million °C ion temperature in 2022; in 2024 it tested a 26.2 T HTS magnet at CERN — among the highest fields ever reached by an HTS demountable magnet. In 2025 it was named magnet systems partner for the UK STEP programme.
Latest coverage — Tokamak Energy
- IndustrySep 18, 2026Type One Energy
A British-US consortium including Type One Energy, Tokamak Energy, and AECOM will build the UK’s first private-sector fusion power plant
A consortium of Type One Energy, Tokamak Energy, and AECOM has formed to construct the UK's first privately funded fusion power plant under the government's Fusion Industry Programme.
- FundingSep 14, 2026Tokamak Energy
Tokamak Energy: $125 Million Raised To Commercialize Fusion Energy
UK-based Tokamak Energy has secured $125 million in a new funding round to accelerate the commercialization of its spherical tokamak fusion concept and expand its high-temperature superconducting magnet technology.
- FundingSep 14, 2026Tokamak Energy
Tokamak Energy: $125 Million Closed To Commercialize Transformative Fusion And Magnet Tech
UK-based Tokamak Energy has secured $125 million in a new funding round to advance its commercial fusion energy development and expand applications for its high-temperature superconducting magnet technology.
- IndustryAug 27, 2026Tokamak Energy
Tokamak Energy unveils images of fusion power plant slated for 2030s
Tokamak Energy has released conceptual designs for its ST80-HTS spherical tokamak power plant, which the company projects will be operational and grid-connected in the 2030s.
- IndustryAug 25, 2026Tokamak Energy
Tokamak Energy joins with Atkins to get fusion energy on the grid
Tokamak Energy has partnered with engineering consultancy Atkins to advance the design and development of its ST-F1 spherical tokamak prototype power plant.
- IndustryAug 12, 2026Tokamak Energy
The Fusion CEO: We're Building a Mini Sun on Earth.
Tokamak Energy CEO Warrick Matthews outlines the company's strategy for deploying compact spherical tokamaks using HTS magnets, targeting commercial fusion power plants in the 2040s.
- ScienceJul 31, 2026PPPL
Heating for fusion: Why toast plasma when you can microwave it!
A collaboration between PPPL, Tokamak Energy, and Kyushu University has proposed a compact spherical tokamak design that utilizes high-frequency microwaves for core plasma heating, aiming to overcome density limits in high-field devices.
- IndustryJul 26, 2026Reuters Fusion
Fusion power getting closer, say UK scientists
UK-based Tokamak Energy claims its compact spherical tokamak, utilizing high-temperature superconducting magnets, will achieve net energy gain within five years and connect to the grid within a decade.
Strategic Thesis
Spherical geometry yields the highest β (plasma pressure / magnetic pressure) of any tokamak. Combined with HTS, this enables a much smaller, cheaper compact plant.
Technical & Economic Profile
Architecture class
Tokamak & Spherical Tokamak Vanguard
Most mature dataset in fusion. HTS REBCO magnets shrink reactor volume; D-T cycle exploits the highest nuclear cross-section at the lowest temperatures.
Reactor design
Magnetic / Spherical Tokamak (A ≈ 2.0)
Core tech focus
HTS REBCO magnets — 26.2 T tested at CERN (2024)
Key milestones
ST40 reached 100M °C ion temperature (2022). Demo plant ~2030.
How Tokamak Energy sits vs peers
Spherical-tokamak pioneer. ST geometry maximises β; combined with > 26 T HTS magnets, the architecture targets the highest power density in the class.
Class engineering bottlenecks
- 14.1 MeV neutron flux degrades RAFM steel and tungsten armor above ~80 dpa, forcing periodic first-wall replacement.
- Achieving a Tritium Breeding Ratio > 1.0 in compact geometry — especially on space-constrained spherical-tokamak center-posts — is unresolved.
- REBCO tape suffers irreversible critical-current loss above 0.4% tensile strain; > 30 T fields generate GPa-class Lorentz forces requiring MP35N superalloy substrates and carbon-fiber cocoons.
- Sudden plasma disruptions vaporise plasma-facing components — repair downtime is the single dominant LCOE variable per ARPA-E pyFECONs.
LCOE drivers
- Disruption-driven capacity-factor losses (AI digital-twin control projected to cut NOAK LCOE 17–20%).
- ⁶Li enrichment supply chain: ~100 t per plant at $5,000/kg can hit 80% of overnight capital cost.
- Balance-of-plant (steam turbine, heat exchangers, cooling towers) dominates D-T capex.
Sourced from the 2026 Global Fusion Energy Comparison — triple-product thresholds, direct-energy-conversion architecture, materials limits, and the LCOE / Qecon framework.
Founding Team
Spun out from the UK's legendary Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, this elite trio pioneered the entire concept of the commercial spherical tokamak. Alan Sykes conducted the historical, foundational calculations showing that a cored-apple plasma shape dramatically increased efficiency, while Dr. Mikhail Gryaznevich managed world-class experimental operations. Complemented by Cambridge physicist and corporate strategist Dr. David Kingham, the founders proved that pairing spherical geometry with newly emerging High-Temperature Superconducting (HTS) magnets was the fastest, most compact path to a viable pilot plant in the United Kingdom.
Mikhail Gryaznevich
PhD in Plasma Physics, Ioffe Institute, Russia
Alan Sykes
MA in Physics, University of Oxford
David Kingham
PhD in Physics, University of Cambridge
The Problem
Global electricity demand is entering an unprecedented growth phase driven by AI infrastructure, data centers, transport electrification, industrial decarbonization, water desalination, and advanced manufacturing. Solar suffers intermittency, wind capacity-factor variability, natural gas carbon emissions, conventional nuclear cost and deployment speed, and batteries energy-density and duration limits. The world requires a new source of clean, dispatchable baseload energy. Fusion represents the ultimate energy source — the challenge is making it commercially practical.
Compact Spherical Tokamak + HTS Magnets
Spherical tokamaks compress the donut into nearly a sphere, achieving the highest plasma β of any tokamak topology. Combined with HTS magnets, this enables a much smaller, cheaper compact plant.
ST40 — Plasma Performance Record
First privately-funded device to reach 100 million °C ion temperature.
ST80-HTS Demonstrator
Next-generation device validating HTS magnets in the spherical geometry.
HTS Magnet Business
Tokamak Energy's magnet division supplies the UK STEP programme and is positioning as a global HTS supplier.
Fuel Strategy
Deuterium-Tritium
Standard D-T fuel cycle.
Product Platform
ST40
Current research device with record plasma performance.
ST80-HTS
Next-generation HTS spherical tokamak demonstrator.
HTS Magnet Systems
Commercial HTS magnets for STEP and the broader fusion industry.
Energy Conversion
Thermal (Rankine/Brayton)
Neutronic (D-T)
33–40% electrical
Deuterium-tritium fusion releases ~80% of its energy as 14.1 MeV neutrons, which deposit their kinetic energy in a surrounding blanket. The heat drives a conventional steam (Rankine) or supercritical-CO₂ (Brayton) turbine.
Conversion chain
- 1D-T plasma
- 214.1 MeV neutrons (80%) + 3.5 MeV alpha (20%)
- 3Neutrons → lithium-bearing blanket (heat + tritium breeding)
- 4Heat → steam/CO₂ turbine → electricity
The most thoroughly understood fusion fuel cycle, highest cross-section at achievable temperatures, and proven back-end engineering (steam turbines are 19th-century technology). Trade-offs: neutron-induced materials damage, tritium handling, ~33–40% Carnot-limited efficiency.
Economic Vision
Twin-track business model: a commercial HTS magnet business generating revenue today, while the spherical-tokamak power-plant program matures over the 2030s.
Vision
Spherical tokamaks as the most compact magnetic-confinement pathway to commercial fusion.
Mission
Deliver compact spherical-tokamak fusion power and supply the magnets the rest of the industry needs.
Engineering Bottlenecks
- Inboard centre-post neutron shielding (no room for thick blanket)
- Disruption mitigation in compact ST geometry
Milestone Timeline
2022
ST40 reached 100M °C ion temperature
2024
26.2 T HTS magnet test at CERN
2025
Named magnet systems partner for UK STEP
The description above reflects Tokamak Energy's publicly stated technology goals, roadmap and architecture. Many elements — particularly net-energy gain at scale, advanced fuel cycles, and grid-relevant economics — remain ambitious objectives that have not yet been demonstrated commercially anywhere in the fusion industry. Forward-looking statements should be treated as engineering targets, not certainties.
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Citations & Sources
Academic & financial rigor- [01]
ST40 achieves 100 million °C
Tokamak Energy · 2022
- [02]
26.2T HTS magnet at CERN
Tokamak Energy · 2024
- [03]
The Global Fusion Industry in 2025
Fusion Industry Association · Jul 2025
- [04]
Company disclosures and press releases
Tokamak Energy
- [05]
Peer-reviewed plasma physics literature
Journal of Plasma Physics / Nuclear Fusion