Fusion News

FYI - Fusion News/Alerts 18 Mar 2026

FYI - Fusion News/Alerts 

Vacuum vessel gravity supports - Purpose-designed insertion tool passes the test

https://www.iter.org/node/20687/purpose-designed-insertion-tool-passes-test 

[Latest ITER Newsline: https://www.iter.org/whatsnew/492]

Decades of coding experience are powering the next era of fusion energy

https://www.pppl.gov/news/2026/decades-coding-experience-are-powering-next-era-fusion-energy 

UK sets fusion roadmap with West Burton STEP project

https://www.theengineer.co.uk/content/news/uk-sets-fusion-direction-with-west-burton-step-project 

Nuclear, fusion companies sign deals with Japanese counterparts

https://www.axios.com/2026/03/16/us-japan-nuclear-fusion 

Key contracts awarded in UK fusion programme

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/key-contracts-awarded-in-uk-fusion-programme 

£45M for the UK’s first AI supercomputer to accelerate fusion energy

https://www.niauk.org/45m-for-the-uks-first-ai-supercomputer-to-accelerate-fusion-energy/ 

Firms appointed to build fusion power plant

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd6z8l4yz75o 

In conversation with Prof Xavier Garbet: Driving fusion energy development

https://www.ntu.edu.sg/giving/news-and-stories/detail/in-conversation-with-prof-xavier-garbet 

NIA Welcomes the Government’s Fusion Strategy

https://www.niauk.org/nia-welcomes-the-governments-fusion-strategy/ 

RIC panel discusses pathway to fusion commercialization

https://www.ans.org/news/article-7846/ric-panel-discusses-pathway-to-fusion-commercialization/ 

ILIOS appointment speeds delivery of STEP Fusion at West Burton

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ilios-appointment-speeds-delivery-of-step-fusion-at-west-burton 

The invisible technology that could finally make commercial fusion possible

https://www.futura-sciences.com/en/the-invisible-technology-that-could-finally-make-commercial-fusion-possible_27851/ 

UKAEA-Eni Tritium Loop Facility expands international partnership

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ukaea-eni-tritium-loop-facility-expands-international-partnership 

Argonne receives DOE funding to advance AI for science

https://www.anl.gov/article/argonne-receives-doe-funding-to-advance-ai-for-science 

DOE launches UPRISE to boost nuclear capacity

https://www.ans.org/news/article-7841/doe-launches-uprise-to-boost-nuclear-capacity/ 

French nuclear industry stakeholders welcome the outcomes of the fifth Nuclear Policy Council (CPN)

https://www.cea.fr/english/Pages/News/french-nuclear-industry-stakeholders-outcomes--welcome-nuclear-policy-council.aspx 

Global Leaders Affirm Central Role for Nuclear at 2026 Nuclear Energy Summit

https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/global-leaders-affirm-central-role-for-nuclear-at-2026-nuclear-energy-summit 

French ministerial council reiterates need for nuclear revival

https://world-nuclear-news.org/articles/french-ministerial-council-reiterates-need-for-nuclear-revival 

Andromeda’s vanishing star

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-026-03235-1 

Aalo Atomics discusses the road ahead

https://www.ans.org/news/2026-03-12/article-7838/aalo-atomics-discusses-the-road-ahead/ 

EDF launches global nuclear investment and financing advisory board

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/edf-launches-global-nuclear-investment-and-financing-advisory-board 

Webinar highlights Gen IV reactors

https://www.ans.org/news/article-7843/webinar-highlights-gen-iv-reactors/ 

Funding boost for French SMRs

https://www.neimagazine.com/news/funding-boost-for-french-smrs/ 

Cambridge Atomworks Sign Agreement with Mott MacDonald for Microreactor Technology

https://www.niauk.org/cambridge-atomworks-sign-agreement-with-mott-macdonald-for-microreactor-technology/ 

Reeves announces push for tech sovereignty with £2.5m for AI and quantum

https://www.computing.co.uk/news/2026/government/reeves-ai-quantum-sovereignty-funding-boost 

Infrastructure work under way for Namaru uranium deposit

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/infrastructure-work-begins-for-namaru-uranium-deposit 

Two major skills programmes secured to train UK’s next generation of nuclear scientists & engineers

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2026/two-major-skills-programmes-secured-to-train-uks-next-generation-of-nuclear-scientists-engineers 

University leads programme to train next generation of nuclear scientists

https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2026/quality/training-next-generation-nuclear-scientists/ 

£9.6M SATURN-2 programme launched to deliver the UK’s next generation of nuclear experts

https://www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/96m-saturn-2-programme-launched-to-deliver-the-uks-next-generation-of-nuclear-experts/ 

Lancaster to deliver a new generation of UK nuclear engineers, scientists and researchers

https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/lancaster-to-deliver-a-new-generation-of-uk-nuclear-engineers-scientists-and-researchers 

Recent Peer-Reviewed Articles of Interest

Kinetic Simulation of Laser Plasma Instabilities Including Collisional Effects on Sub-Nanosecond Timescales

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6587/ae51c0 

Geometric instability of the quasi-periodic plasma perturbations model

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1209/0295-5075/ae528e 

First field test of a novel optical gas analyzer in the exhaust of Wendelstein 7-X

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6587/ae52b0 

[Of Interest]

Are nuclear power plants the key to powering our digital world?

https://www.anl.gov/article/are-nuclear-power-plants-the-key-to-powering-our-digital-world 

Celebrating 100 years of physics at Tsinghua University

https://physicsworld.com/a/celebrating-100-years-of-physics-at-tsinghua-university/ 

Inside the world’s particle-physics labs: Global Physics Photowalk 2025 winners revealed

https://physicsworld.com/a/inside-the-worlds-particle-physics-labs-global-physics-photowalk-2025-winners-revealed/