10074354Inside FusionClosedLaunchpadInnovate UKFusion is the energy source of the Sun and stars. In the tremendous heat and gravity at the core of these stellar bodies, hydrogen nuclei collide, fuse into heavier helium atoms, and release huge amounts of energy in the process. Three conditions must be fulfilled to achieve fusion in a laboratory: very high temperature (on the order of 150,000,000 °C); sufficient plasma particle density (to increase the likelihood that collisions do occur); and sufficient confinement time (to hold the plasma, which has a propensity to expand, within a defined volume). At extreme temperatures, electrons are separated from nuclei and gas becomes a plasma---often referred to as the fourth state of matter. Fusion plasmas provide the environment in which light elements can fuse and yield energy. In a tokamak device, powerful magnetic fields are used to confine and control the plasma. Fusion research followed the first Tokamak experiments in Russia in the late 1950s. The Tokamak has been adopted around the world as the most promising configuration of a magnetic fusion device. As an example of the intense research activity, the international collaboration of ITER in Southern France will be the world's largest Tokamak---twice the size of the largest machine currently in operation, with ten times the plasma chamber volume. The first plasma light is planned for 2025 and Deuterium-Tritium Operation begins in 2035\. Investment in private fusion companies has more than doubled in the past year and eight new companies have been founded, bringing the total to around 33\. There is a growing demand for materials that can withstand the Fusion environment and in particular the 'connection' to the Fusion reactor vessel. These connections are mostly in the form of tubes to evacuate, monitor, and deliver the media to the reactor. The connection tube materials will be steel alloy based and will not be capable of withstanding the environment safely without additional protective measures. This protection will be in the form of high-integrity coatings that act as a barrier between the Fusion environment and the base steel alloy tubes. These coatings will be developed within the project by the partners and created by a variety of vacuum plasma deposition means. The project aims to create a Merseyside-based hub for the development and delivery of coated tubes for Fusion and other demanding applications.