UT To Partner With ORNL, Type One Energy on World-Class Facility To Validate Next-Gen Fusion
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory; and Type One Energy are partnering to establish a world-class facility to advance fusion energy.
The high-heat flux facility, located at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Bull Run Energy Complex in Clinton, Tennessee, will evaluate how materials react under extreme conditions in a fusion device. The HHF facility will accelerate the development of plasma-facing components, which must withstand harsh conditions during the fusion process. The results will enable both private and public entities to qualify and validate the materials used in fusion pilot plant designs.
The facility will be only the second of its kind in the United States, capable of replicating the high-heat flux present in fusion devices. It will be the only domestic facility to include pressurized helium gas cooling, the coolant of choice for many U.S.-based fusion reactor concepts.
"This partnership will enable our students and faculty to contribute to materials and technology development to support the deployment of fusion power to the grid and provide research and career opportunities," said Brian Wirth, UT-ORNL Governor's Chair for Computational Nuclear Engineering and TVA Department Head Chair for Nuclear Engineering at UT. "This is another opportunity to expand our unique East Tennessee nuclear ecosystem and continue development of both advanced fission and fusion energy."
Widespread support
The project will use investments from DOE's Fusion Energy Sciences program within the Office of Science, Type One Energy and the State of Tennessee to build the facility.
"Type One Energy was the first company to receive the state's nuclear funding in 2024, and we remain committed to supporting their work, which further solidifies Tennessee's role as the epicenter of next-generation nuclear innovation," said Stuart C. McWhorter, deputy governor and commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. "Our state is also fortunate to have the University of Tennessee as a world-class partner, and we are proud to work alongside them to bring this project to life."
The facility will leverage the significant investments already made in fusion materials and technology in East Tennessee, including UT's advanced work in fusion materials design and ORNL's fusion materials development program, materials characterization capabilities and Manufacturing Demonstration Facility.
The Clinton site will function as a fusion development campus for ORNL, Type One Energy, UT and TVA, and will complement the ongoing research collaborations between the institutions, cementing East Tennessee as a regional hub of fusion research and a future manufacturing center for PFCs and other advanced components for fusion plants.
"This unique collaboration of breakthrough science, industry innovation and academic leadership will result in the creation of a national facility critical to the success of realizing commercial fusion," said ORNL Laboratory Director Stephen Streiffer.
Testing materials at temperatures hotter than the sun
The facility fulfills a need identified in DOE's Fusion Science and Technology Roadmap to deliver domestic HHF capabilities to advance the understanding of materials and lifetime limits in containing plasma hotter than the sun. It complements ORNL's Materials Plasma Exposure Experiment, currently under construction, which will answer key questions about plasma-material interactions and help develop robust materials for PFCs.
The collaborative team is targeting a steady-state heat load of more than 10 megawatts per square meter on the subcomponent surface—similar to the heat flux inside some rocket engines—using electron beam technology. The high-heat flux facility will also be novel for its inclusion of pressurized helium gas cooling, which is a leading candidate coolant for fusion devices due to its high maximum operating temperature, stability in prototypical fusion conditions and chemical inertness with blanket components.
The next steps in the project are to finalize the design, begin procurement of materials and start assembly. TVA is currently conditioning the site for the facility, and the project is slated for completion at the end of 2027.
"This collaboration and the high-heat flux facility at TVA's Bull Run site further advance this region's reputation as a leader in fusion innovation," said CEO Christofer Mowry of Type One Energy. "The DOE, ORNL and UT are playing important roles in advancing America's commercial fusion sector."
Provided by University of Tennessee at Knoxville
