UK supercomputer Sunrise to tackle fusion energy challenges

The UK government is investing £45 million ($59.8 million) for the 1.4MW mission-focused supercomputer named ‘Sunrise’, which will tackle key fusion energy challenges in areas such as plasma turbulence, materials development and tritium fuel breeding.

As announced in the Fusion Strategy, Sunrise is targeted for operation in June this year and is considered a key step in establishing the country’s first AI Growth Zone at the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s (UKAEA) Culham Campus in Oxfordshire.  

According to the government in a release, Sunrise is primed to be the world’s most powerful AI supercomputer dedicated to fusion energy.  

Funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), Sunrise will tackle key fusion energy challenges in areas such as plasma turbulence, materials development and tritium fuel breeding, while delivering spillover benefits to other clean energy technologies. 

Sunrise will see AMD, DESNZ, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Dell Technologies, Intel, UKAEA, the University of Cambridge, and WEKA working together. 

The supercomputer will strengthen essential AI capabilities at Culham Campus and across the UK’s computing landscape, contributing to the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan and AI for Science Strategy. 

It will deliver up to 6.76 Exaflops of AI-accelerated modelling, enabling high-fidelity simulations and the creation of digital twins for complex systems. 

Said UK Minister for Science, Innovation, Research and Nuclear, Lord Vallance: “We can be proud that Britain will lead the way on research, innovation and skills for a future of limitless fusion energy. 

“By backing our fusion industry, we are not only securing our future energy independence, but from innovation and research to engineers, we are also providing the skilled clean energy jobs of the future for British people.”

Said Dr Rob Akers, UKAEA’s Director for Computing Programmes:  

“UKAEA is taking lessons from the Apollo programme: we learn fastest when we can test, iterate, and improve safely in the virtual world before we commit to our real-world mission. 

“Sunrise will bring that capability to fusion by combining high-fidelity simulation with physics-informed AI to develop predictive digital twins that reduce the cost, risk and time of learning that would otherwise require expensive and time-consuming physical testing.”

Added Thomas Zacharia, Senior Vice President, Strategy and Development, Public Sector, AMD: “Fusion research pushes the limits of science and computing, demanding massive simulation, complex modelling and advanced AI to accelerate progress. 

“With Sunrise, the UK will have a powerful new capability to rapidly and accurately simulate plasma behaviour and fusion conditions, helping researchers advance the development of stable, efficient and economically viable fusion energy.” 

Sunrise will be used to address real-world challenges from a wide range of UK fusion programmes to drive critical advancements for the LIBRTI (Lithium Breeding Tritium Innovation) programme, which is developing tritium fuel-cycle technologies for self-sufficiency in future fusion operations, and for STEP Fusion, the UK’s flagship initiative to demonstrate fusion energy in the 2040s. 

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A partnership in Tritium

At the same time as Sunrise, the UK announced an expanded partnership for the UKAEA-Eni H3AT Tritium Loop Facility, which is located at Culham Campus in Oxfordshire.

The UKAEA and global energy tech company Eni announced Kinectrics as the design and fabrication partner for the Facility, which is expected to be the world’s largest and most advanced tritium fuel cycle facility when it is fully commissioned in 2030.

Canada-based multinational company Kinectrics brings decades of experience with tritium – a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that is an essential fuel for future fusion power plants.

Kinectrics’ expertise includes systems engineering, safety and regulatory compliance, a vertically integrated delivery model, in-house tritium infrastructure, and existing knowledge in fusion fuel cycle systems.

It complements UKAEA’s fusion research capabilities and Eni’s experience of delivering industrial-scale plants, to accelerate innovation in tritium technologies for the UKAEA-Eni H3AT Tritium Loop Facility, a key international experimental user facility designed to lead the development of tritium technologies for fusion power plants.

Collectively, they aim to solve challenges in the design, manufacturing, testing and delivery of fusion fuel cycles, to develop safe and commercially viable fusion energy.

The recovery and reuse of tritium will be central to the supply and generation of the fuel in future fusion power plants.

As design and fabrication partner, Kinectrics will support UKAEA and Eni to develop and integrate critical tritium-handling technologies, including:

• Atmospheric Detritiation System (ADS): Recovers tritium from gas waste streams to minimise release to atmosphere
• Water Detritiation System (WDS): Recovers tritium from tritiated water
• Gloveboxes: Containing developmental equipment, each glovebox is unique and requires high-performing containment

Said Sarah Clark, Director of Tritium Fuel Cycle Division at UKAEA and UKAEA-Eni H3AT Tritium Loop Facility sponsor: “We are delighted that Kinectrics will join our integrated project team as the H3AT Tritium Loop Facility’s fabrication partner. 

“Having the right partners is essential for H3AT’s design and development to be successful, and Kinectrics’ experience with tritium, fusion and adjacent sectors complements what we already have from UKAEA and Eni.”

UK’s fusion strategy

Both Sunrise and the expanded Tritium partnership were announced in the UK’s fusion strategy 2026, detailing how the country aims to accelerate growth of its fusion industry, grow supply chains and skills.

As per a post by the UKAEA, the low-carbon energy created from fusion can be used to generate electricity in the same way as existing power stations, offering ‘base load’ power that can complement renewable and other low-carbon energy sources.

The UK is already backing fusion research and commercialisation, earmarking over £2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) over five years under its Plan for Change, and, with its fusion strategy, is now “committed to making the UK the best place in the world to develop and deploy fusion energy”, they say in the strategy. 

To do so, the UK says it will invest in the underpinning research and technology, such as Sunrise, needed to solve remaining technical challenges for the critical energy source. 

It will also position the UKAEA as a world-class centre of fusion R&D, through the partnership with Kinectrics alongside a £180 million ($239.3 million) for tritium breeding through LIBRTI, and the decommissioning of JET.

Additionally, under the strategy, the government says it is partnering with industry to develop leading technologies such as magnet and gyrotron (microwave) test facilities at West Burton, using the focus provided by STEP.

Specifically, as per a release from the Nuclear Industry Association, the construction partner is ILIOS consortium, led by UK construction giant Kier Group and Nuvia. 

With partners AL_A, Aecom and Turner & Townsend, they will redevelop the site of the former coal-fired power station, which closed down in 2023 after 57 years of energy generation.

UK Fusion Energy CEO Paul Methven commented:

“The appointment of ILIOS as our Construction Partner marks a significant milestone for the STEP Programme. Their combined experience in major infrastructure, safety-critical engineering and complex site transformation gives us real confidence as we move from planning into delivery. This partnership will help ensure that West Burton becomes a leading centre of fusion innovation and a cornerstone of the UK’s future clean energy landscape.”

Research and development is not the only way the UK intends to cement its position in fusion. Indeed, under the strategy, the government says it will use public investment, including through STEP, to unlock private sector investment and stimulate a rich ecosystem of companies working in fusion.

Additionally, it says it will create a forward-leaning environment for the fusion sector to thrive, further developing the UK’s pro-innovation regulatory regime, streamlined planning, and developing the world’s first market framework for fusion energy. 

It will do so by publishing a draft National Policy Statement for Fusion (EN-8) in Summer 2026, developing a plan for the UK to be the first country in the world to offer a market framework for fusion energy, and engage the energy insurance market to encourage insurance of fusion outside of the nuclear pools and standard nuclear exclusion clauses.