The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) welcomed
British musician, comedian and television star, Bill Bailey, to
its Culham Campus to explore the vital research being undertaken
to advance fusion as a sustainable source of energy for future
generations.
The Strictly Come Dancing Glitterball Trophy winner visited
UKAEA's campus in Oxfordshire, after mentioning fusion during his
‘Thoughtifier' stand-up tour. Spotted in the audience, UKAEA's
Executive Director for Engineering and Computing, Dr Joe Milnes,
invited Mr Bailey to see fusion's research and development in
action.
Mr Bill Bailey, said:
The central premise of this show (‘Thoughtifier') is celebrating
human endeavour and the constant ingenuity of humans. I talk
about it in terms of human evolution, about discovering music,
and one of those fields is also fusion. It felt like a natural
fit to put fusion into the show and to ask the members of the
audience what they feel about it.
I've noticed a change over the past year and half where, every
time I mention fusion, there has been a gradual uptick in
people's awareness of it. When I say, ‘We need to find a solution
to the world's energy needs, what about fusion?', there are
cheers from the crowd.
My visit to UKAEA was fascinating and eye-opening, and amazing to
hear about how our understanding of fusion is progressing. Seeing
all this being done in the English countryside gave me a huge
surge of patriotic pride, and enormous hope for the future.
Dr Joe Milnes, Executive Director for Engineering and Computing,
UKAEA, said:
I've always been a big fan of Bill's, particularly his sense of
humour combined with his obvious fascination with how the world
works.
Spending a few hours with Bill, showing him all the incredible
things happening at UKAEA, revealed how excited he is about
fusion and other endeavours where humans can demonstrate their
incredible problem-solving abilities.
Fusion promises to be a safe, low carbon and sustainable part of
the world's future energy supply. It has the potential to provide
‘base load' power, complementing renewable and other low carbon
energy sources.
During his visit, Mr Bailey toured UKAEA's MAST-Upgrade and the
Joint European Torus (JET) facilities and recorded a fireside
chat with Dr Joe Milnes.
