The Fusion Energy APPG welcomes a significant week for UK fusion energy, with the Government publishing its Fusion Investment Prospectus and Fusion Regulation Landscape paper, and agreeing two new fusion partnerships with the United States at the Global Fusion Summit in London.
As announced in the Fusion Strategy, the Government have published their Investment Prospectus for fusion energy. The Prospectus sets out the UK’s offer to investors and industry across six areas: the UK’s fusion ecosystem, new investment opportunities across fusion and adjacent markets, a de-risked route to market backed by over £2.5 billion of government investment, the STEP prototype power plant, an AI-enabled fusion ecosystem built around the Sunrise supercomputer, and targeted strategic support and incentives, and includes a directory of the major organisations and companies involved in fusion and the supply chain.
The Prospectus is supported by the Regulation Landscape paper, which brings together, for the first time, the approvals and permits fusion developers will need to navigate as they move from research to commercial deployment, confirming that fusion continues to be regulated by the Health and Safety Executive and Environment Agency rather than as a nuclear activity.
Both demonstrate that the Government intends to support the commercialisation of fusion energy and has started to deliver on key elements of the Strategy.
This progress is supported by global partnerships. At the Global Fusion Summit in London, the UK and US also agreed a new supercomputing partnership between UKAEA and the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, and a joint commitment to cooperate on regulating fusion energy, alongside new commercial investment from the University of Birmingham, the Electric Power Research Institute and Kyoto Fusioneering. Michael Shanks MP, Minister for Energy, said fusion “has the potential to provide virtually limitless clean energy while supporting more than 10,000 jobs across the UK by 2030.” The agreements suggest the UK’s fusion ambitions are increasingly being matched by international partners’ willingness to invest alongside them.
Together, these announcements build on the UK Fusion Strategy and give the sector greater clarity and confidence as it moves from research towards commercial deployment.
