If the trials are successful, the UK would be on course to securing home-grown supplies of medical radioisotopes, which are used in several lifesaving cancer therapies.

The radioisotopes work by highlighting tumours in PET scans or delivering targeted radiation, and are used to treat thyroid, prostate and other cancers. Until now, the neutrons used to create these radioisotopes have been produced via nuclear fission.

Astral Systems was founded in 2021 by Tom Wallace-Smith, a nuclear physicist, and Talmon Firestone, a Canadian entrepreneur. Its latest fundraising is led by Mercia Ventures and a handful of other investors, including a French firm, Daphni.

At 1.5 metres tall and just 13cm wide, the company’s multi-state fusion reactor is small enough to fit on a table while running plasma and solid-state fusion simultaneously. The company has already made nearly £3 million ...

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