A new AI supercomputer will enable the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) to tackle key fusion energy challenges such as plasma turbulence, materials development and tritium fuel breeding.
Due to start operations in June, ‘Sunrise’ will be based UKAEA’s Culham Campus in Oxfordshire, with £45m in funding from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).
Fusion is a potential source of almost limitless clean energy, seen as vital for energy security and the climate crisis. However, fusion is as difficult to realise in practice as it is hard to harness.
Researchers will test and iterate designs virtually, avoiding the cost, risk and time required for physical testing. With its 6.76 exaflops of AI-accelerated modelling, Sunrise will enable the creation of high-fidelity simulations and digital twins.
Rob Akers, UKAEA’s director for computing programmes, said: “UKAEA is taking lessons from the Apollo programme: we learn fastest when we can test, iterate and improve safely in the virtual...