SUMMARY

  EPSRC does not own any institutes. However, following a government policy review in 2001, funding for the UK domestic nuclear fusion programme, based at the UKAEA Culham Laboratory, was moved from the nuclear industries section of DTI to the Office of Science and Technology in April 2002 and directly to the EPSRC in April 2003. A main motivation for this move was to improve links with the academic research base from which UK fusion research had become isolated and for fusion research to be considered in the context of broader national research programmes.

  The fusion programme at Culham was reviewed earlier this year, as a result of which a new grant for 2007-08 is to be announced shortly. EPSRC does not employ the staff funded through this grant nor own the facilities supported.

SUPPORT FOR FUSION RESEARCH AT CULHAM LABORATORY

  Fusion power offers the potential of an almost limitless source of energy for the future generations: a fusion power plant would offer a number of advantages over current ones, producing no greenhouse gases, having little environmental impact and using basic fuels which are widely available or readily accessible. Studies of energy scenarios have shown that fusion could make a significant contribution to meeting the world's energy needs in the future. The science to prove that fusion offers a potentially viable option for electricity generation has been proven and the international community is now ready to tackle the technical and engineering challenges to demonstrate the technical feasibility of using fusion for large-scale energy production.

  The activities at Culham include the Joint European Torus and the UK Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak and related researchers.

  JET is the flagship of the European Community Fusion Programme. The experiment is based at UKAEA Culham Science Centre, and the work is being carried out by an international team of scientists. The annual budget for JET operations, science and investments is approximately 75 million, mainly funded by EURATOM via the Framework programmes. The UK contributes about one eighth ie approximately £6.5 million per year as a host subscription.

  EPSRC provides support to Culham for the UK fusion programme through grant funding, the current grant covers the period from April 2004 to March 2008 and valued at £48 million. The grant provides support for staff salaries, equipment, overheads and other costs. The grant also includes funding for the UK host contribution to JET for 2004 and 2005 of £6.6 million per annum.

  A mid term review of the activity took place in January 2006; the review panel was impressed with the progress made in the first two years of the EPSRC grant and noted particularly the increase in collaborations with UK universities. Continued support to the programme of research was recommended and further funding is to be provided for the research activities and the JET host subscription.

EPSRC INSTITUTE FUNDING

  2004-05 audited financial data.

Total portfolio (resource & capital)

	Expenditure (£m)
Total expenditure	510.4
Total expenditure at HEIs	422.7
Total expenditure at RCIs (excluding CCLRC)	19.6
Total expenditure with CCLRC and other organisations	8.8

  RCI is Culham Fusion Facility.

  Last line is CCLRC expenditure only.

  (Only Culham, as above.)