Scientists have begun to decommission one of the world’s foremost nuclear-fusion reactors, 40 years after it began operations. Researchers will study the 17-year process of dismantling the Joint European Torus (JET) near Oxford, UK, in unprecedented detail — and use the knowledge to make sure future fusion power plants are safe and financially viable.
“We are starting to think seriously about a fusion power plant,” says Rob Buckingham, who leads on decommissioning for the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), which oversees JET. “This means thinking about the whole plant life cycle.”