Canada-based Stellarex Energy and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to collaborate on stellarator fusion energy technology.
MOU was signed during the Second-Annual UK-Canada Nuclear Forum at the British High Commission in Ottawa by Stellarex Co-founder and CEO Dr Spencer Pitcher, of Energy, and UKAEA Executive Director Stephen Wheeler. It provides a framework for joint scientific research and engineering validation to accelerate the deployment and development of Stellarex’s simplified stellarator fusion power plant design.
The collaboration focuses on critical technical areas required to transition fusion from experimental science to industrial-scale engineering. Under the MOU, Stellarex and UKAEA will partner on several key initiatives, including plasma physics and confinement, high-temperature superconductors technology, operational systems, diagnostics, and fuel cycle.
Stellarex Energy is a high-profile Princeton University spin-off company that aims to commercialise nuclear fusion through its simplified stellarator design. It is structuring its entire commercialisation pathway around engineering simplicity and modular deployment through its SX1 and The Simplified Stellarator.
Traditional stellarators use a series of highly complex, twisted 3D magnetic coils to confine superheated plasma in a helical configuration. Unlike tokamaks, they are inherently stable because they do not require an electrical current driven through the plasma. However, their extreme geometric complexity historically made them difficult and expensive to manufacture. Stellarex is changing this approach with its planned SX1 reactor.
Stellarex uses high-performance computing and advanced plasma theory to design optimised, modular magnets that significantly flatten and simplify coil geometry. It leverages High-Temperature Superconductor (HTS) tape to create powerful magnetic fields using physically smaller, less complex magnet structures. A phased roadmap of smaller demonstration devices is used to test discrete subsystems before scaling up to a full-size commercial power plant.
While expanding its footprints globally via the UKAEA agreement, Stellarex’s physical development hub is firmly rooted in Ontario, Canada, where it has built a unique ecosystem to secure a direct route to grid integration. Stellarex is the industrial lead for the Centre for Fusion Energy, a Canadian public-private partnership, which secured up to CAD91.5m ($66.5m) in funding from provincial and federal governments to design and construct a demonstration reactor in Ontario.
Stellarex also maintains a strategic utility agreement with Ontario Power Generation (OPG), an operational partner capable of overseeing eventual grid connectivity and power plant operations. The company also works closely with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL). This is highly strategic because Ontario’s existing fleet of Candu fission reactors produces tritium as a byproduct, giving Stellarex a secure, local supply of the primary fuel needed for its fusion reactors.
By combining its academic Princeton roots with Canadian utility support and UK manufacturing expertise, Stellarex aims to field a viable, grid-ready commercial fusion reactor by the mid-2030s.
“Stellarex is delighted to be collaborating with the UKAEA, an organisation at the forefront of the global effort to commercialise fusion energy,” said CEO Dr Pitcher. “By combining our simplified stellarator approach with UKAEA’s unparalleled fusion expertise, we are significantly de-risking the path to a commercially viable fusion power plant.”
Stephen Wheeler, UKAEA Executive Director, said: “UKAEA has decades of experience operating powerful fusion machines and solving complex fusion challenges that are relevant to many different fusion system designs. We are committed to supporting fusion developers around the globe to help develop fusion as a source of clean energy for tomorrow’s power plants. There are many innovative approaches to fusion and UKAEA is pleased to work with Stellarex to support the development of stellarator technology.”
UKAEA owns UK Fusion Energy (UKFE) on behalf of the UK government. Through UKFE, it is spearheading the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) programme to design and build the UK’s first prototype fusion energy power plant in Nottinghamshire.
