STEP
🇬🇧 West Burton, GB · Active
Also known as STEP Fusion, Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production
STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) is a UK government programme to design and build a prototype fusion power plant based on a spherical tokamak, a compact, rounder version of the tokamak. It is delivered by UK Fusion Energy Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the UK Atomic Energy Authority. In 2022 the government chose West Burton A, a former coal-fired power station in Nottinghamshire, as the site. The plant is designed to produce around 100 MW of electricity and to breed its own tritium fuel; construction is planned from 2032, with operation targeted for around 2040. STEP says it has £1.3 billion of funding for the next stage, and it has appointed the ILIOS consortium, a Kier and Nuvia joint venture, as construction partner.
- Sector
- Fusion
- Technology
- Spherical tokamak
- Role
- Government programme
It is the operator of record for STEP (planned).
Terms
- Spherical tokamak
- A tokamak squeezed towards a cored-apple shape. The tighter aspect ratio holds plasma pressure with less magnetic field, which is efficient, but leaves very little room at the centre for the central column.