Kyoto Fusioneering signs Canada-Japan tritium fuel cycle agreement
Kyoto-based fusion engineering firm partners with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories on UNITY-2 integrated breeding blanket test loop.
Kyoto Fusioneering (KF), the Kyoto University spinout developing fusion plant subsystems, formalized a multi-year agreement with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) to operate UNITY-2, a fully integrated tritium fuel-cycle test loop at CNL's Chalk River site in Ontario.
UNITY-2 is the world's first non-nuclear integrated test of a complete fusion fuel cycle, combining a liquid lithium-lead breeding blanket simulator, tritium extraction, isotope separation, and fueling subsystems at relevant scale. KF's contribution centers on its proprietary silicon-carbide-composite first-wall components and its molten-salt heat exchanger design, both targeted at commercial pilot plants in the 2030s.
The agreement also positions Japan within Canada's growing fusion supply chain alongside General Fusion and TRIUMF. KF chief executive Satoshi Konishi said the firm aims to be “the Tokyo Electron of fusion” — supplying common engineering subsystems across reactor architectures rather than designing reactors itself.
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