The British government initiated the project to develop and build fusion reactors in the UK as the basis for the energy of the future, the press service of the Prime Minister’s Office said on January 24.
Fusion reactor sites could be approved during 2022. According to the UK’s green energy vision, “fusion energy is critical to addressing climate change through a safe, efficient and low-carbon energy supply,” the government said in a statement.
The fusion energy development program is called STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) or “Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production” and is implemented under the auspices of the UK Atomic Energy Authority.
The program involves the construction of commercial fusion power plants, which are expected to “provide an unlimited supply of clean, low-carbon energy.”
Engineers and scientists participating in the pilot project will interact with residents and stakeholders from five selected pilot regions of the country.
Five sites are tentatively indicated, with discussions to be held on the construction of pilot thermonuclear power plants. Possible sites include Ardeer, North Ayrshire, Mooreside, Cumbria, Goole, East Yorkshire, West Burton, Nottinghamshire, and Severn Edge, Gloucestershire.
Tristram Denton, head of STEP development, said the program “is of strategic importance not only to the UK Atomic Energy Agency, but to national and global efforts to use fusion technologies to combat climate change.”
According to him, creating such energy hubs will open up new opportunities for the economic development of the regions.