Oral Answers to Questions

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd May 2023 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

1. What assessment he has made of the potential merits of developing nuclear fusion technology to provide energy.

[James Grundy (Leigh) (Con)]

6. What assessment he has made of the potential merits of developing nuclear fusion technology to provide energy.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Grant Shapps)]

As set out in the Government’s fusion strategy, the environmental and economic impact of fusion energy could be transformational. The Government’s programme aims to drive commercialisation of fusion energy by building a prototype fusion energy plant by 2040.

[Bob Blackman]

I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. When I was studying physics at university more than 40 years ago, fusion was a gleam in our professor’s eye. Now we have been able to achieve it, but the key is scalability. What effort is my right hon. Friend making to invest in the research and development that is required to bring this clean, cheap and green energy to fruition?

[Grant Shapps]

As my hon. Friend says, fusion has always been talked about as 20 years hence, but to speed that up we have invested £700 million in fusion in the spending review period. We are working to get the world’s first fusion power station connected to the grid by 2040, with works scheduled to start in 2032.