Key contracts awarded in UK fusion programme

In October 2022, the West Burton coal-fired power plant site in Nottinghamshire, England, was selected to host the UK's Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP). The demonstration plant is due to begin operating by 2040. The technical objectives of STEP are: to deliver predictable net electricity greater than 100 MW; to innovate to exploit fusion energy beyond electricity production; to ensure tritium self-sufficiency; to qualify materials and components under appropriate fusion conditions; and to develop a viable path to affordable lifecycle costs. As well as the STEP fusion facility, a skills centre and a business park are planned.

ILIOS - a consortium led by Kier and Nuvia venture with AECOM, architects AL_A and Turner & Townsend, providing specialist support - has now been appointed by UK Industrial Fusion Solutions (UKIFS) - soon to be renamed UK Fusion Energy - to deliver the first three‑year, GBP200 million (USD267 million) tranche of the STEP fusion programme. The appointment covers the design and build of a world‑leading prototype fusion power plant and forms part of a wider programme with future opportunities valued at up to GBP10 billion.

The consortium will be responsible for the design and construction of all buildings, infrastructure and facilities on the STEP site as well as supporting the constructability and interface of the wider power plant. Works will include site management, design, construction, programme planning, supply chain management, progress monitoring, project controls and constructability assurance, ensuring all activities are fully coordinated with project stakeholders and compliant with all relevant requirements and standards.

"The appointment of ILIOS as our construction partner marks a significant milestone for the STEP programme," said Paul Methven, CEO of UKIFS and Responsible Officer for STEP Fusion. "Their combined experience in major infrastructure, safety-critical engineering and complex site transformation gives us real confidence as we move from planning into delivery. This partnership will help ensure that West Burton becomes a leading centre of fusion innovation and a cornerstone of the UK's future clean energy landscape."

Simon Matthews, programme director for ILIOS, said: "This is a significant milestone in the UK's transition to clean energy. Following an extensive and collaborative procurement stage, we are proud to be selected as construction partner for the STEP programme and to be part of this innovative and transformative chapter in energy supply. Through our involvement on the STEP programme, we will help advance the UK's future energy resilience and decarbonisation ambitions, supporting economic and regional growth, high-quality jobs and the development of a long-term, UK-based, fusion supply chain."

Tritium fuel cycle facility

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and Italian multinational energy company Eni SpA have announced Canada's Kinectrics as the design and fabrication partner for the UKAEA-Eni H3AT Tritium Loop Facility, which is expected to be the world's largest and most advanced tritium fuel cycle facility when it is fully commissioned in 2030.

_{A rendering of the H3AT Tritium Loop Facility (Image: UKAEA)}

The UKAEA-Eni H3AT Tritium Loop Facility, located at the Culham Campus in Oxfordshire, England, is designed to serve as a world-class facility providing industry and academia with the opportunity to study how to process, store and recycle tritium. The H3AT facilities will comprise: advanced tritium infrastructure, to feed, recover, store and recycle tritium; a flexible suite of enclosures designed to enable a wide variety of experimental work, including pure tritium science, process development, component testing and waste detritiation; computational simulations and model validation; training facilities; and materials detritiation processes and facilities. H3AT will include a prototype-scale process plant and experimental platform, which is a scaled version of the design for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor.

As design and fabrication partner, Kinectrics will support UKAEA and Eni to develop and integrate critical tritium-handling technologies, including: the Atmospheric Detritiation System, which will recover tritium from gas waste streams to minimise release to atmosphere; the Water Detritiation System, which will recover tritium from tritiated water; and gloveboxes containing developmental equipment.

"Having the right partners is essential for H3AT's design and development to be successful, and Kinectrics' experience with tritium, fusion and adjacent sectors complements what we already have from UKAEA and Eni," said Sarah Clark, Director of Tritium Fuel Cycle Division at UKAEA and UKAEA-Eni H3AT Tritium Loop Facility sponsor. "This multinational collaboration will further develop Culham Campus and the UK more widely as an unrivalled location for fusion energy research and development."

Nisa Halsey, Vice President of Nuclear Equipment and Tooling at Kinectrics, added: "As the fusion industry matures, the H3AT facility will become critical infrastructure to optimise the fusion fuel cycle. Kinectrics brings decades of experience as an OEM of specialised equipment for the fission industry and expertise in supplying complex isotopic process systems through rigorous engineering and manufacturing excellence."

Fusion Energy Strategy

The announcements follow the publication of the government's Fusion Energy Strategy from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, setting the direction for the UK's long-term approach to developing and delivering fusion energy. The strategy outlines the government's plan to accelerate fusion research, technology development, and commercialisation. It says it will achieve this by strengthening supply chains, building the skills needed for the fusion industry, and supporting investment.

The strategy notes that the government is making a record investment in fusion energy of over GBP2.5 billion over five years (financial years 2025/26 to 2029/30). Current planned allocations are: GBP1.3 billion delivered through UK Fusion Energy, for the next phase of delivering STEP in partnership with industry; GBP740 million invested into cutting-edge R&D infrastructure and facilities in both magnetic and inertial confinement fusion; GBP180 million on building LIBRTI, a globally unique facility to develop fusion fuel technology for power plants; GBP125 million on developing the AI Growth Zone at Culham, including GBP45 million on the new Sunrise fusion-dedicated supercomputer; GBP110 million on wider industry support, innovation, and commercialisation, supporting UK companies to develop new technologies;  GBP80 million on international collaborations; and GBP50 million on developing fusion skills training over 2,000 people in fusion related disciplines.

"By fostering innovation, addressing market barriers across R&D, investment into the fusion supply chain, and policy frameworks, the UK aims to strengthen and grow the fusion industry," the strategy says. "STEP remains our primary lever to overcome these barriers. From demonstrating technical and commercial viability, to creating thousands of jobs and a skills base, to providing the UK with world leading systems integration capability, STEP will continue to play a crucial role in achieving the UK's fusion objective."

Tom Greatrex, Chief Executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, welcomed the publication of the Fusion Energy Strategy. He said: "The government's continued investment in fusion is a welcome signal of the UK's ambition to lead in one of the most exciting clean energy technologies. Sustained funding is essential to turn the UK’s world-leading research into commercial projects, new supply chains and high-skilled jobs across the country. "Backing programmes such as STEP and the wider capabilities needed for fusion development will help ensure the UK remains at the forefront of the global race to bring fusion energy to market. With long-term commitment and partnership between government, industry and researchers, this investment can help unlock the enormous potential of fusion for the UK's clean energy future."

As announced in the Fusion Energy Strategy, Sunrise - a 1.4 MW mission-focused supercomputer at UKAEA's Culham Campus - is targeted for operation in June this year and is set to be the world’s most powerful AI supercomputer dedicated to fusion energy. Sunrise will tackle key fusion energy challenges in areas such as plasma turbulence, materials development and tritium fuel breeding, while delivering spillover benefits to other clean energy technologies and the UK's broader net-zero ambitions. It will deliver up to 6.76 Exaflops of AI-accelerated modelling, enabling high-fidelity simulations and the creation of digital twins for complex systems.

Sunrise will also strengthen essential AI capabilities at Culham Campus and across the UK's high-performance computing landscape, contributing to the government's AI Opportunities Action Plan and AI for Science Strategy.

Sunrise will be used to address real-world challenges from a wide range of UK fusion programmes to drive critical advancements for the LIBRTI (Lithium Breeding Tritium Innovation) programme, which is developing tritium fuel-cycle technologies for self-sufficiency in future fusion operations, and for STEP Fusion, the UK's flagship initiative to demonstrate fusion energy in the 2040s.