First commercial fusion reactor on UK power grid by 2030s

TAE Technologies, a US-based company, is close to achieving net energy in nuclear fusion, meaning more energy is produced than used to create the reaction. The company uses boron-11 and hydrogen instead of deuterium-tritium, which is easier to fuse and has fewer dangerous particles, making it cheaper and easier to operate. TAE Technologies has built five experimental reactors and is currently building a machine that can exceed 100 million degrees, required for net energy. The company's boron-11 fuel is abundant and cheap, found in sand and seawater, and requires comparatively little for a fusion reaction. TAE Technologies is one of the largest private fusion employers in the UK, and the country has strong fusion expertise, positioning it at the front of the pack for the world’s first commercial fusion plant. TAE Technologies is considering the UK for its first commercial net energy fusion reactor, which will supply electricity to the grid, and expects to have a first-of-its-kind fusion power plant on the grid early next decade. Fusion power plants can be put safely inside population centers, saving the 20% of generated electricity that is lost in long-distance transmission, and can make up the gap between the energy needed and energy produced in low and no carbon ways by 2050.