Durham University scientists play key role in testing superconducting materials for world’s largest fusion energy project

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Durham University scientists have completed one of the largest quality verification programmes ever carried out on superconducting materials, helping to ensure the success of the world’s biggest fusion energy experiment ITER.

 

Their findings, published in Superconductor Science and Technology, shed light not only on the quality of the wires themselves but also on how to best test them, providing crucial knowledge for scientists to make fusion energy a reality.

 

Fusion (the process that powers the Sun) has long been described as the holy grail of clean energy. It offers the promise of a virtually limitless power source with no carbon emissions and minimal radioactive waste.

 

ITER, now under construction in southern France, is designed to demonstrate fusion at an unprecedented scale.

 

When operational, its giant magnets will confine plasma at temperatures hotter than the Sun’s core, and those magnets depend entirely on the performance of advanced superconducting wires.

 

The Durham University team, led by Professor Damian Hampshire and Dr Mark Raine, were chosen in 2011 to establish one of Europe’s official reference laboratories for ITER.

 

Their task was to develop the specialised methods needed to test the superconducting wires made from compounds called Nb₃Sn and Nb–Ti that form the backbone of ITER’s magnet system.

 

Each piece of wire had to meet extremely high standards to ensure the reliability of the machine.

 

Over the course of the project, the research team received more than 5,500 wire samples and carried out approximately 13,000 separate measurements.

 

Every wire had to be processed, prepared, and in the case of Nb₃Sn, heat-treated in furnaces reaching over 650°C before measurement.

 

What makes this work particularly significant is the statistical analysis carried out on this enormous dataset.

 

The Durham group showed that when the same strand cannot be measured repeatedly as is the case with Nb₃Sn wires, which are altered by heat-treatment measuring adjacent strands in different laboratories can act as a reliable substitute.

 

This provides a practical and cost-effective method of cross-checking results, ensuring both laboratory accuracy and manufacturing consistency.

 

Fusion energy could be transformative, but its success depends on getting the details right,

the researchers say.

 

The wires inside ITER’s magnets must carry currents hundreds of times greater than in household wiring, under extreme conditions.

 

Professor Damian Hampshire of Durham University, who led the work said: "The UK leads the world in the manufacture of MRI body scanners using Superconducting magnets.

 

“The question is can we help lead the world with the commercialisation of Fusion Power generation using Superconducting magnets?”

 

The findings come at a time of growing momentum in fusion energy. While ITER aims for its first plasma in 2035, private companies are racing to develop commercial reactors sooner.

 

Microsoft has already signed a deal to buy electricity from Helion’s planned fusion plant in 2028, and Google has pre-ordered 200 megawatts of fusion power from Commonwealth Fusion Systems in the 2030s.

 

Meanwhile, the UK government has committed £2.5 billion to fusion research and is building its own prototype plant, STEP, on a former coal site in Nottinghamshire.

 

When ITER begins operating, its magnets will generate some of the strongest steady magnetic fields ever created, enabling fusion reactions that could produce abundant, low-carbon energy without long-lived radioactive waste.

 

The success of the magnets and of ITER itself depends on the quality of the superconducting strands now verified in Durham.

 

It also provides an open resource that scientists everywhere can use to refine both the technology and the testing methods.

 

Durham’s role extends beyond ITER, the University is also a lead partner in the UK’s Centre for Doctoral Training in Fusion Power, helping train the next generation of scientists and engineers.

 

ENDS

 

Media Information

 

Professor Damian Hampshire from Durham University is available for interview and can be contacted on d.p.hampshire@durham.ac.uk.

 

Alternatively, please contact Durham University Communications Office for interview requests on communications.team@durham.ac.uk or +44 (0)191 334 8623.

 

Source

 

‘European Nb3Sn and Nb–Ti strand verification for ITER: processing, measurements and statistical analysis’, (2025), M J Raine, T Boutboul, P Readman and D P Hampshire, Superconductor Science and Technology.

 

An embargoed copy of the paper is available from Durham University Communications Office. Please email communications.team@durham.ac.uk.

 

Graphics

 

Associated images and videos are available via the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/efo6x7auibahpg6j3tx25/01092025-Hampshire-and-Raine-SuST-paper-image.jpg?rlkey=26q9yxv8gxcoy6w0q0objtdfv&st=2n393ant&dl=0

 

About Durham University

 

Durham University is a globally outstanding centre of teaching and research based in historic Durham City in the UK.

 

We are a collegiate university committed to inspiring our people to do outstanding things at Durham and in the world.

 

We conduct research that improves lives globally and we are ranked as a world top 100 university with an international reputation in research and education (QS World University Rankings 2026).

 

We are a member of the Russell Group of leading research-intensive UK universities and we are consistently ranked as a top 10 university in national league tables (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, Guardian University Guide and The Complete University Guide).

 

For more information about Durham University visit: www.durham.ac.uk/about/

 

END OF MEDIA RELEASE – issued by Durham University Communications Office.

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