The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and Eni have launched a joint venture aimed at accelerating the path to commercial fusion energy.

 

The new company, named RH3OVA and incorporated in the UK, brings together UKAEA’s deep scientific and operational expertise with Eni’s industrial and engineering capability. Its mission is to deliver specialist consultancy and operational services to the fast-growing global fusion sector, with a particular focus on one of its most difficult bottlenecks: the fuel cycle.

 

Fuel cycle technologies remain a critical barrier to making fusion energy commercially viable. RH3OVA is designed to address this challenge end-to-end, offering services that span early feasibility studies through to deployment and operational support.

 

At the center of the challenge are fusion fuels deuterium and tritium. While deuterium is widely available and can be extracted from seawater, tritium is extremely scarce. That scarcity makes efficient handling essential—covering its production, use in fusion reactions, recovery from exhaust streams, and refinement for reuse.

 

Stephen Wheeler, Executive Director, Tritium Fuel Cycle, UKAEA, said: “Having operated the Joint European Torus, which was the world’s most powerful deuterium-tritium fusion machine for more than 40 years, and with 30 years’ experience of tritium operations, the UK is a leader in tritium fuel cycle technology. 

 

"For fusion to be realised as a commercially viable source of energy, however, this expertise must be scaled beyond the lab. RH3OVA offers best in class digital process models validated with real world, fusion relevant data sets. RH3OVA will combine UKAEA’s scientific and operational know-how, with Eni’s large-scale industrial capability, and leverage this joint expertise to increase knowledge and understanding across the fusion sector.”

 

Eni echoed the strategic importance of the partnership.

 

Lorenzo Fiorillo, Technology, R&D & Digital Director of Eni, said: “Fusion energy has the potential to redefine the global energy landscape, and at Eni we are committed on multiple fronts to turning this potential into tangible industrial progress. Our partnership with UKAEA is of great strategic value to us and represents a further step in scaling up innovation and translating scientific excellence into real-world solutions."