EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Fusion Power - EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in the Science and Technology of Fusion Energy

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Programme & Speakers

2025 Events

York: Monday 16th – Thursday 19th June 2025 (this event has taken place.  View the programme details)
Oxford: Monday 29th September – Thursday 2nd October 2025

Oxford Programme

Course Overview

This four-day course covers the engineering applications of fusion.  We look at power plant design and the main engineering challenges, then at the economics of getting fusion onto the grid, and the regulatory landscape.  Each talk is delivered by an expert in the field, and includes 1 hour of lecture and 30 minutes of discussion with the speaker. 

FIS Oxford Programme 2025

Location HB Allen Centre, Keble College, Oxford
Dates 29th September – 2nd October 2025

Monday 29th September

  • Fusion Power Plant Design (Tokamaks) Ryan Wagner, International Atomic Energy Authority
  • Fusion Power Plant Design (Inertial Fusion) Hugo Doyle, First Light Fusion
  • Materials Technology for Fusion David Armstrong, University of Oxford
  • Magnets and Magnet Technology Susannah Speller, University of Oxford

Tuesday 30th September

  • Tritium Breeding Blanket Design Samuel Murphy, University of Lancaster
  • Engineering Management: ITER Hot Cell Case Study, Fernando Miguelez Rodriguez, ENGAGE (AtkinsRéalis)
  • Site Tours of National Fusion Facilities at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy

Wednesday 1st October

  • Decomissioning JET, Zac Scott, UKAEA
  • Socio-economics of Fusion Energy, Niek Lopes Cardozo, Eindhoven University of Technology
  • Panel – Financing Fusion
    • Chair: Niek Lopes Cardozo, Eindhoven University of Technology
    • Heather Lewtas UKAEA
    • Stuart Allen FusionX Group
    • David Kingham Tokamak Energy 
    • Abi Luxton Great British Nuclear

Thursday 2nd October

  • Fusion Waste and Waste Management Mark Gilbert, UKAEA
  • Panel – Safety & Regulation
    • Chair: Freya Anderson Health & Safety Executive
    • Greg Black Environment Agency
    • Alasdair Morrison Oxford Sigma
    • Sally Forbes UKAEA
    • Laurence Williams OBE Bangor University
  • STEP Update Debbie Kempton, UKIFS
  • The UK fusion programme in the international landscape Howard Wilson, UKIFS

Registration Details

  • Ryan Wagner, International Atomic Energy Agency

    Oxford: Fusion Power Plant Design (Tokamaks)

    Ryan Wagner currently works at the International Atomic Energy Agency as the Fusion Technical Lead. He is developing an IAEA Fusion CONNECT platform to educate member states in various fusion topics such as regulatory frameworks, fusion codes and standards, technologies and fuel cycles, etc. He was an early employee of Commonwealth Fusion Systems where, as the Head of Systems Engineering and Design Integration, he established the SPARC engineering program and managed a team of systems and project engineers. Prior to CFS, he worked at the ITER Organization as the Industrial Controls Coordinator managing the integration of various subsystems with central control systems. Before working in fusion, Ryan spent 10 years in the fission industry working on various Gen-III+ designs including the Westinghouse AP1000, the Toshiba ABWR, and the Areva NP US EPR.

  • Hugo Doyle, First Light Fusion

    Oxford: Fusion Power Plant Design (Inertial Fusion Energy)

    Hugo Doyle is Head of Empirical Validation at First Light Fusion Ltd. His department is responsible for building and fielding the capability to experimentally test their latest fusion target designs and benchmark the simulations. This involves fielding deuterium tritium filled targets on massive pulsed power machines and measuring the burst of neutrons emitted at the First Light laboratory in Oxfordshire. They are also leveraging the target design expertise to commercial applications in the space and defence sectors. Hugo has been at First Light for eleven years. Before this he studied laser driven laboratory astrophysics during his PhD at Imperial and as a post-doc at Oxford which involved using some of the largest lasers in the world to reproduce conditions similar to those found at the centre of a star.

  • Dave Armstrong, University of Oxford

    Oxford: Materials Technology for Fusion

    Dave Armstrong is Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Oxford. He is part of a research group working on understanding the effects of extreme environments on the mechanical behaviour and stability of materials. This includes studying the effects of radiation damage, high temperatures, corrosive environments, electric fields and high stresses, often in combinations with each other where unexpected synergistic effects can occur. Much of their work is centred on developing new mechanical testing techniques at the nano and micro scale and applying these to materials challenges for energy generation and storage. They have access to bespoke in-situ and ex-situ high temperature nanoindentation systems which allow them to perform tests up to 1200K and in a range of controlled environments. He is a member of the Fusion Power CDT Management Board and the PI of the management group of the EPSRC National Nuclear User Facilities.

  • Susannah Speller, University of Oxford

    Oxford: Magnets and Magnet Technology

    Susie Speller is a Professor of Materials Science at the University of Oxford and a Fellow at St Catherine’s College. She has spent over 20 years researching a wide range of superconducting materials. She currently holds an EPSRC Open Fellowship researching radiation damage of high temperature superconductors for fusion magnets. Susie is Letters Editor of Superconductor Science and Technology and has recently written a book called “A Materials Science Guide to Superconductors: and how to make them super,” aimed at introducing superconductors materials to the general public.

  • Samuel Murphy, University of Lancaster

    Oxford: Tritium Breeding Technology

    Dr. Samuel Murphy is a Senior Lecturer in Nuclear Materials and is Director of Studies for Nuclear Engineering at Lancaster University. His research focuses on the behaviour of materials in extreme environments, particularly the formation of defects and their impact on macroscopic properties. In particular, he is interested in how the properties of breeder blanket materials will evolve during fusion reactor operation, including the mechanical stability, tritium release rate and the thermal conductivity. His work utilises state-of-the art atomistic simulation techniques to develop atomic level understanding of the processes that dictate the materials performance, information that is difficult to obtain experimentally.

  • Fernando Rodriguez Miguelez, ENGAGE (AtkinsRéalis)

    Oxford: Engineering Management: ITER Hot Cell Case Study

    Fernando Miguelez works for AtkinsRéalis as Principal Mechanical Engineer specialized in Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning Systems (HVAC). His current role is HVAC Lead and Technical Referent for the ENGAGE Consortium, the Architect Engineer Organization for Fusion 4 Energy (F4E), which is the Domestic Agency in charge of the delivering the main buildings of the ITER complex. Fernando's team is responsible for the design of the HVAC systems for the Tokamak Complex and other auxiliary buildings, as well as to perform the technical review and acceptance of Contractor's designs on behalf of F4E. Thes systems involved are relevant for the nuclear safety since they manage the dynamic and static confinements and maintain the atmospheric conditions required for the correct operation of critical plant systems. Before joining the ITER project in 2020, Fernando has worked in other fission nuclear projects for new build power plants, waste processing and decommissioning.

  • Zac Scott, UKAEA

    Oxford: Decomissioning JET

    Zac Scott OBE is the Director of JET Decommissioning & Repurposing (JDR) at the UK Atomic Energy Authority, managing the next phase of the Joint European Torus fusion research facility. JDR will decommission through innovative methods, using robotics and thermal treatment. It will repurpose facilities and assets, enabling growth of the fusion cluster. With a background in Explosive Engineering, Zac ran complex programmes in the Ministry of Defence, managing robotics, technical exploitation, and hazard mitigation. He has experience of programme leadership across government, including as a qualified Reviewer. He has supported Nuclear Threat Reduction, working with international partners in capability development and operational delivery.

  • Niek Lopes Cardozo, Eindhoven University of Technology

    Oxford: Socio-Economics of Fusion Energy & Panel Chair: Financing Fusion

    Niek Lopes Cardozo is professor emeritus of Science and Technology of Nuclear Fusion at Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands, where he initiated the interdisciplinary MSc programme on nuclear fusion. Before focusing on the training of the new generation of fusion engineers, he directed the Dutch fusion research programme, which he represented in the top-level European fusion committees. He has supervised some 50 PhD theses in the field of fusion. He received the Royal Shell prize for his scientific work in nuclear fusion as well as his efforts in outreach. In parallel to his work as a researcher and educator he has been active in science policy. Among others, he served on the Executive Board of the Dutch Research Council, chairing the Science Domain. Climate change and the energy transition have been long time interests and concerns. In recent years his research has focused on the socio- and techno- economics of the energy transition, and the potential role of fusion energy therein.

  • Heather Lewtas, UKAEA

    Oxford: Panel - Financing Fusion

    Heather was appointed interim Chief Development Officer in May 2025 and has been Head of Innovation since 2022. Innovation supports all areas of UKAEA to effectively develop commercial opportunities arising across the fusion programme and helps deliver that impact. Previously she was on the STEP Executive as Strategic Operations Manager. STEP is an ambitious programme to design and construct a prototype fusion energy plant, targeting operations around 2040. She was also the lead for multiple manufacturing innovation programmes across UKAEA. Prior to joining UKAEA she worked in the defence and aerospace sectors running technology programmes on materials and structures and in spacecraft instrumentation having received her PhD in Physics.

  • Stuart Allen, FusionX Group

    Oxford: Panel - Financing Fusion

    Stuart Allen is co-founder and CEO of FusionX Group. FusionX exists to facilitate the sustained and efficient allocation of capital to fusion primarily by educating investors and connecting them with fusion and fusion supply chain companies. He has more than 20 years experience in intermediating data and relationships to support investment in and finance of energy and infrastructure, sovereigns and corporates in both developed and emerging markets. He has also, variously, served as a director of World Education & Development Fund in NYC; managed equity research for Santander in Madrid; and translated and published Chinese law books in Hong Kong.

  • David Kingham, Tokamak Energy

    Oxford: Panel - Financing Fusion

    Dr David Kingham is a Founder of Tokamak Energy, a company that aims to accelerate the development of fusion. Tokamak Energy is developing compact, high magnetic field, spherical tokamaks and is building on world leading expertise in fusion, spherical tokamaks and high field superconducting magnets in the UK. Dr Kingham founded Tokamak Energy with two pioneering fusion scientists from UKAEA Culham Laboratory and served as the company’s first CEO. He has a PhD in Physics from the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge.

  • Mark Gilbert, UKAEA

    Oxford: Fusion Waste and Waste Management

    Mark has more than 20 years’ experience working on computational nuclear inventory analysis and nuclear materials modelling at the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. Mark is the programme leader for a team concerned with all aspects of understanding how materials will interact with the fusion environment, in areas including activation analysis and waste assessments, atomistic modelling, nuclear data evaluation and acquisition, corrosion and oxidation, plasma wall interactions and magnetic effects. The team supports both the operation of current reactors such as MAST-U and JET, and predictions and modelling for future experiments and reactors such as LIBRTI, STEP, ITER and EU-DEMO. Mark is also heavily involved in the development of waste handling and decommissioning strategies for fusion, particularly for STEP, and has interactions with both national and international regulators such EA and IAEA.

  • Freya Anderson, Health & Safety Executive

    Oxford: Panel Chair - Safety & Regulation

    Freya Anderson is a Risk and Process Safety Scientist working in the Health and Safety Executives Science Division. She joined HSE after a degree in chemistry from the University of Liverpool and a Science Communications masters from the University of Manchester, which focussed on the application of artificial intelligence in chemical research and production facilities. Freya specialises in assessing the risks and safety of hazardous industries regulated by HSE such as chemical refineries, and novel emerging technologies like nuclear fusion, artificial intelligence, robotics, and automation. Whilst working at HSE, Freya has undertaken extensive training in critical areas such as the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations, Layers of Protection Analysis, Hazard Identification, Hazard Operability Studies, and hydrogen safety. Freya also contributes her technical expertise to the delivery of the NEBOSH HSE Certificate in Process Safety Management training course, a comprehensive four-day course designed to equip managers, supervisors, and safety professionals with the essential tools and knowledge to manage process risk effectively.

  • Sally Forbes, UKAEA

    Oxford: Panel - Safety & Regulation

    Dr. Sally Forbes has worked at the Culham Campus for seven years, and is the Fusion Safety Advisor for UKAEA. In this role, she leads a small team providing technical expertise in fusion safety, security & environment, supporting the development of the regulatory framework for future fusion power plant. She also contributes expertise to a number of international working groups on fusion safety and regulations, including the International Atomic Energy Agency. Prior to working in fusion, Dr. Forbes had 20 years experience in the nuclear industry, including the development of safety cases and safety management processes.

  • Alasdair Morrison, Oxford Sigma

    Oxford: Panel - Safety & Regulation

    Alasdair Morrison is Chief Technology Officer for Oxford Sigma. He leads the technology development of advanced materials and processing for fusion and other extreme environment application in Oxford Sigma, a fusion materials specialist organisation. He has spent over 10 years working in advanced materials processing for critical applications in nuclear, aerospace, and defence. Alasdair holds a PhD in fusion material development, and is focused on the advancements in manufacturing needed to realise fusion power plants.

  • Laurence Williams OBE, University of Bangor

    Oxford: Panel - Safety & Regulation

    Professor Laurence Williams is a distinguished nuclear engineer with over 50 years of experience working in the nuclear sector as an academic, nuclear regulator, board director, government advisor and nuclear engineer. Laurence is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales. He is currently the Ser Cymru Professor of Nuclear Policy and Regulation at Bangor University, and a Visiting Professor at Imperial College. Before joining academia, Laurence was as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations, and he is an internationally recognised expert in nuclear regulation. Laurence has chaired a number of fusion research and safety reviews for the European Commission (EURATOM) and for Eurofusion. He is currently supporting the Clean Air Task Force study on the international deployment of Fusion Power Plant technologies. Laurence is the Vice President of the European Nuclear Society’s High Scientific Council.

  • Debbie Kempton, UKIFS

    Oxford: Update on STEP

    Debbie is a Chartered Engineer and certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with over 30 years of engineering experience. Debbie spent a large part of her career in the Aerospace and Defence sector and has held a variety of roles in the US and the UK. In her current role as Director of Engineering Programme for the UKAEA’s Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) programme, Debbie is responsible for both the overall engineering programme and developing links with industry to support the design - drawing on her extensive experience in leading major programmes and delivering new technologies. Debbie is passionate about putting fusion electricity on the grid – economically and reliably – and is hugely proud and excited to be part of one of the biggest scientific and engineering challenges of all time.

  • Howard Wilson, UKIFS

    Oxford: The UK fusion programme in the international landscape

    On completing his PhD in high energy particles physics, Howard joined UKAEA in 1988 as a theoretical plasma physicist supporting the UK fusion programme. In 2005, he was appointed as Chair in Plasma Physics at the University of York, where he established and led the York Plasma Institute as well as multi-institutional training programmes such as the Fusion Centre for Doctoral Training and the Fusion Industry School. He was seconded back to UKAEA during 2017-2020, initially as the fusion Research Programme Director and then as the (interim) Director for the STEP fusion programme. In 2023, he was appointed as Fusion Pilot Plant R&D Lead at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the US, before returning to the UK to take up his present position as STEP Science and Technology Director with UK Industrial Fusion Solutions in 2025.