STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) will be built in Nottinghamshire on the site of the former West Burton A coal power station near Retford and Gainsborough, which closed in late 2024. The project represents the UK’s homegrown effort to achieve commercial fusion after being cut from the ITER fusion megaproject in France post-Brexit. Alongside the EU, ITER’s members are China, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the US.
Assembly for STEP is expected to begin in the 2030s, with first operations predicted for 2040 and the project ultimately targeting 100MW of net energy production. The prototype plant will be delivered by UK Industrial Fusion Solutions (UKIFS), a wholly owned subsidiary of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). According to UKIFS, delivery of STEP will create around 10,000 jobs over its lifetime across construction and operations.
“The UK is the world leader in fusion energy research today, and STEP is the beacon programme that aims to take fusion from research to commercial success, generating high quality jobs, multiple spin offs and boosting the economy nationally and in the East Midlands where we will build the first plant,” said Paul Methven, CEO of UKIFS.
“Securing a global lead in such a vital new technology requires bold action; the government has rightly been bold…and we look forward to delivering the practical steps that will realise the vision of the UK leading in this exciting new sector.”
Unlike STEP’s predecessor JET (Joint European Torus), the new plant will feature a spherical tokamak similar in profile to a cored apple rather than a doughnut. Spherical tokamaks are more space efficient and easier to build modularly, which should simplify assembly and maintenance. The spherical shape also allows the plasma to travel closer to the vessel wall and ultimately produce a higher quality plasma, vital for attaining the 150million degree temperatures required for nuclear fusion on Earth.
“After scientists first theorised over 70 years ago that it could be possible, we are now within grasping distance of unlocking the power of the Sun and providing families with secure, clean, unlimited energy,” said energy secretary Ed Miliband during a recent visit to the UK’s Fusion Research Campus at Culham.