Date Time Share UKAEA’s new MAST Upgrade device is solving a major challenge for commercial fusion energy Tenfold reduction in heat on key fusion machine components Boost for the UK’s ‘STEP’ programme to put fusion power on the grid for abundant, low-carbon electricity Scientists at the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) have successfully tested a world-first concept that could clear one of the major hurdles in developing fusion energy. Initial results from UKAEA’s new ‘MAST Upgrade’ experiment at Culham, near Oxford, UK, have demonstrated the effectiveness of an innovative exhaust system designed to make compact fusion power plants commercially viable.