Legal battle: Dr Mikhail Gryaznevich claimed he was fired by the government because his research offered a solution to end global warming. The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority settled out of court

A scientist working on a new power source has agreed an out-of-court settlement with Britain's atomic agency after claiming they sacked him because his research could halt global warming.

Dr Mikhail Gryaznevich believes small fusion machines, known as tokamaks, could be the answer to providing clean and plentiful electricity.

But he sued the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) after claiming bosses suppressed his work, bullied him and then sacked him in a bid to discredit him and his work.

The agency, who said he was making 'unsupported' claims about his work for financial reasons, settled with him today.

The Russian-born physicist had worked for the UKAEA for more than 22 years when he was sacked from his job working at their research facilities near Abingdon, Oxfordshire last year.

'I have an exemplary record as an outstanding fusion scientist and innovator,' he told the tribunal.

'I have tried to do my duty to the UK, giving all my experience and capability to promote the faster way to fusion energy.

'I was invited to come to the UK to do this research which has been hugely successful by any measure and which led directly to the flagship of the UK's own fusion research programme. Now I have been fired for pursuing this research.'

He said in late 2012 the chief executive of UKAEA, Professor Steven Cowley, was 'rude and intimidating' towards him at a meeting and accused him of 'wrongdoing'.

He said: 'Even worse, it appears that a Professor Cowley was attempting to stop my work because it might reveal the inconvenient truth that research on small tokamaks can help to accelerate the development of the fusion energy as a promising solution to global warming and possible shortage of energy.'

'Fusion energy is likely to bring major global environmental benefits.

'Hence suppressing a promising area of fusion research and deliberately ignoring its potential advantages is likely to cause damage to the environment in future.'

Problems arose around three years after Dr Gryaznevich co-founded Tokamak Solutions UK Ltd (TSUK), a commercial venture making small tokamaks with a view to generating electricity in years to come.

He said a prior arrangement to allow him to take unpaid leave to attend conferences outside his role for the Authority, a situation apparently supported by Professor Cowley, suddenly changed in late 2012 when he was told there was a conflict of interest.

'I still don't understand what possible potential there is for conflict and I don't know what damage I could have caused to the respondent,' he said.

'I have quite reasonably asked for this information but it has not been given to me.'

He was sacked in March last year and told the tribunal he had tried to encourage UK universities to become involved in tokamak research but that Professor Cowley had tried to thwart his efforts and told the universities that the machines did not help fusion research.

Long serving: Dr Mikhail Gryaznevich worked for the UKAEA for 22 years, here at its research facility at Culham, Oxfordshire

At the start of the tribunal hearing in Reading, Berkshire, Hilary Winstone, counsel for UKAEA, challenged the claimant.

She said there were doubts over Dr Gryaznevich's scientific theory but that the Authority had allowed him to conduct his work.

Miss Winstone argued that in his bid to attract venture capitalists to fund the work, Dr Gryaznevich had made claims about being able to generate electricity 'within ten years'.

'He made the claims for financial gain. He didn't really believe them,' she told the tribunal panel.

The tribunal was sensationally halted this afternoon after Dr Gryaznevich and the UKAEA reached an out-of-court settlement over his unfair dismissal claim.

The agreement means his claim was withdrawn and the case dismissed.

Dr Gryaznevich, 59, from Culham, Oxfordshire, who brought a scale model of the tokamak technology to the tribunal, said: 'It was never about money from the very beginning. We want to succeed with fusion energy.

'We hope in the future that we will be able to work with the UKAEA. We have experiments continuing at Culham laboratory tomorrow.'

Dr David Kingham, chief executive of Tokamak Energy, who represented his colleague at the tribunal, added: 'We are great enthusiasts for fusion and we have made a decision to get back to doing that.