Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to support the development of nuclear fusion technology.

In October 2023, I announced our updated Fusion Strategy, with a renewed focus on supporting the whole UK fusion sector. This includes an additional £650m through to 2027 for Fusion Futures – a suite of new R&D programmes to support the sector and strengthen international collaboration. This builds on over £700m we committed from 2021 to 2025 to the UKAEA.

At the site of the former coal-fired power plant at West Burton in Nottinghamshire, we will build, by the 2040s, STEP, a prototype fusion power plant capable of delivering energy to the UK grid – a globally unique programme.