The UK Atomic Energy Authority has published a statement from Jo Johnson, minister of state for universities, science, research and innovation, giving assurance on the future of research into fusion energy.

Experimental and theoretical research has shown 'spherical' tokamaks to be a "fast route to fusion" compared with more "conventional" tokamak devices such as Joint European Torus, according to David Kingham, chief executive of Tokamak Energy.

The UK government has highlighted the role of nuclear power among its responses to a report by the Energy and Climate Change Committee. The parliamentary committee published its Third Report of Session 2016–17, The energy revolution and future challenges for UK energy and climate change policy, last October.

WEST is the new name for Tore Supra, a plasma facility near Cadarache in southern France, which has been upgraded to undertake research towards the Iter fusion project. The reactor celebrated its first plasma on 14 December as part of its mission to support the Iter project.

The Korean Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) tokamak-type nuclear fusion reactor has achieved a world record of 70 seconds in high-performance plasma operation, South Korea's National Fusion Research Institute has announced.

"Nothing has changed" regarding the future for the UK's Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE) and the Joint European Torus (JET), centre head Ian Chapman said today.

A consortium led by Amec Foster Wheeler has been awarded a contract to examine the future decommissioning of the Iter fusion reactor, currently under construction at Cadarache in the south of France.

An updated schedule for the Iter fusion project has been approved by the Iter Council, which represents the countries taking part in the project. Under the new schedule, first plasma is now slated for 2025 and the start of deuterium-tritium operation is set for 2035.

A consortium of Airbus Safran Launchers, Nuvia and Cegelec CEM is to develop a remote handling system for the Iter project under the largest fusion energy robotics contract ever awarded, Fusion for Energy has announced.

As the first of three Chinese-supplied electrical transformers is installed at the Iter fusion project in France, researchers in the Netherlands are testing the resistance to neutron radiation of materials that will shield the fusion reactor's core.

Russian fuel manufacturer TVEL expects one of its subsidiaries to be able to create superconductors with enhanced performance for new "high energy physics megaprojects" by 2019.

Following a year-long international tender process, the Momentum joint venture - comprising Amec Foster Wheeler of the UK, Assystem of France and Kepco Engineering & Construction of South Korea - has been selected as construction management-as-agent contractor for the Iter fusion project.