A School of Chemistry team will lead one of thirteen projects awarded by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) Fusion Industry Programme to develop robust sensing technologies for use in future fusion power plants. The project will be conducted in the School of Chemistry’s Pyrochemical Research Laboratory (PRL). Building on combined expertise and infrastructure in Raman spectroscopy and analysis, high temperature systems development and monitoring, it will involve investigating the feasibility of using Raman spectroscopy for sensing and monitoring in liquid metal breeding blankets. Fusion power offers the prospect of a clean and sustainable energy source at scale, to meet the net zero energy challenge. However, there are many technical challenges to be addressed to realise this compelling prospect. This work will focus on the breeding blanket, which is an integral component of future fusion power plant designs based on deuterium-tritium fusion, where process neutrons need to be captured and the fuel generated efficiently and at the scale required to sustain fusion. It will address the need to develop a monitoring method for liquid metal blankets which ensures effective control of this process. Staff working in the Pyrochemical Research Laboratory As UKAEA programme manager, I am very excited we have received this award with the opportunity it provides to develop sensing and monitoring in the extreme conditions encountered in liquid lithium based breeding blankets. This R&D programme will enable the assessment of Raman monitoring as a candidate technology for delivering essential process control in future fusion power plants. Dr Ilka Schmueser Research Fellow, School of Chemistry The Pyrochemical Research Laboratory team outside the School of Chemistry. Process monitoring using Raman spectroscopy is an established field, and offers many potential benefits. Raman can be non-invasive, quantitative, is compatible with these extreme environments and can enable simultaneous and time-varying detection of multiple species. Building on proof of principle Raman studies on reactive metals at room temperature, the objective is now to develop a high temperature Raman spectroscopic system and assess the potential through the detection of key diagnostic species for Raman to enable online monitoring and control in these liquid metal breeding blankets. As PRL Director, I welcome UKAEAs support for this programme, which both recognises and expands our signature contribution to Fusion Chemistry research, development and innovation, accelerating the development and provision of Fusion systems which address the Net Zero energy challenge and provide energy sustainability. Professor Andy Mount Personal Chair in Physical Electrochemistry, School of Chemistry As the PRL lab manager, I look forward to combining our state-of the-art infrastructure and established technical expertise with the expertise of colleagues in the Raman and FTIR Analytical Facility in Chemistry, working closely to address this exciting and timely systems and monitoring challenge. Dr Justin Elliott Pyrochemical Research Laboratory (PRL) Facility Manager, School of Chemistry Read more about the Pyrochemical Research Laboratory and its capabilities: http://www.prl.chem.ed.ac.uk/ Read more in the UKAEA press release: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/creating-sensors-for-extreme-fusion-energy-conditions Publication date 28 Apr, 2025
