The UK Government has launched a new Fusion Strategy, A New Energy Revolution: The UK’s plan for delivering fusion energy, which “is set to support over 10,000 UK jobs by 2030, drive investment, and give industry the confidence to take fusion from the lab to the grid, ready for deployment”.
The 68-page strategy builds on the government’s £2.5bn ($3.3bn) investment in fusion research and development, confirmed in the June 2025 Spending Review, and £20m investment in April 2025 into Starmaker One, a UK fusion investment fund.
The key points of the strategy include:
- World first policy: The UK will be the first country in the world to offer a market framework for fusion electricity to de-risk and incentivise private investment and enable fusion to power homes and businesses. Engagement with insurance markets will ensure appropriate cover and planning will be streamlined with the first ever fusion-specific rules.
- STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production): A £197m Construction Partner contract (to 2029) is announced for the STEP prototype fusion powerplant to be built at a former coal plant in Nottinghamshire. UK Fusion Energy (formerly UK Industrial Fusion Solutions – UKIFS), backed by £1.3bn of funding, will be one of the best-capitalised fusion companies in the world, primed to deliver STEP.
- Sunrise AI Supercomputer: The government is investing £45m to fund the world’s most powerful fusion‑dedicated AI supercomputer, developed in a collaboration between the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and the University of Cambridge, to accelerate fusion design, modelling and operations.
- International investment: UKAEA and global energy tech company Eni have agreed to establish a company to advance fusion energy technologies.
- Skills and investment: A plan backed by £50m for the UK to be the home of fusion skills and innovation, with apprenticeships and an upcoming investment prospectus, will ensure countries invest in Britain. This includes training of over 2,000 people in fusion related disciplines.
Fusion was also recently included in the UK-US Tech Prosperity Deal, which outlined how British and American expertise will fast-track progress towards commercial fusion power. This included AI collaborations between industry and UKAEA to advance fusion energy research in the US and UK. The Fusion Strategy also comes ahead of the UK-US Global Fusion Policy Summit later this year.
In the Foreword to the Strategy, Lord Vallance of Balham, Minister of State for Science, Innovation, Research & Nuclear and Lord Livermore, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, say it “sets out how we will continue to leverage the leadership of UKAEA to coordinate R&D priorities and accelerate towards fusion commercialisation and UK global competitiveness”.
They note that UKIFS, set up initially to deliver the STEP programme, “is uniquely placed as one of the best capitalised fusion companies in the world, with genuinely leading technical capabilities, the backing of UKAEA’s scientific expertise and the ability to call upon the coordinating power of Government”. It will provide the foundation for the UK to develop first of a kind fusion power plants and directly stimulate the growth of the UK supply chain. Working with industrial partners, UKIFS will develop world leading capabilities as a fusion power plant integrator that can design and deploy fusion power plants globally, with the capability to raise external investment in future. “To recognise this ambitious role and its future in the UK fusion energy sector… we are announcing that we will rename UKIFS as UK Fusion Energy.”
The strategy identifies key measures in three areas: Accelerate R&D; Grow investment, supply chains and skills; and Policy innovation.
Accelerate R&D
We will invest in the underpinning research and technology needed to solve remaining technical challenges. This includes:
- Turbocharging the UKAEA’s status as a world-class centre of fusion R&D, reinforcing its position as a hub for high-tech innovation. This includes investment in unique fusion R&D capabilities such as £180m for tritium breeding through LIBRTI4; new international partnerships such as the UKAEA’s new H3AT5 tritium facility working with Eni (Italy) and Kinectrics (Canada); and decommissioning of JET;
- Partnering with industry to develop leading technologies such as magnet and gyrotron (microwave) test facilities at West Burton, using the focus provided by STEP and building on decades of world leading research;
- Investing £45m in the new Sunrise 1.4MW supercomputer, which will use advanced AI to accelerate fusion design, modelling, and operations and developing a wider AI Growth Zone to power jobs and economic growth.
Grow investment, supply chains and skills
The UK will use public investment, including through STEP, to unlock private sector investment and stimulate a rich ecosystem of companies working in fusion making the UK a top global destination for private developers, suppliers and investment. This includes:
- A major new phase for STEP backed by £1.3bn including the appointment of industrial partners, purchase of the West Burton site, and plans to develop UK Fusion Energy as a pioneering UK systems integrator, partnering with the private sector to develop critical capabilities.
- A UK Fusion Investment Prospectus setting out the offer for global fusion companies and investors wanting to participate in the UK’s world-class fusion ecosystem.
- Supporting fusion skills development including the UKAEA’s Fusion Opportunities in Skills, Training, Education and Research (FOSTER) programme, aiming to bring over 2,000 newly trained individuals into the sector; working with the Nuclear Skills Taskforce and Department for Education to safeguard the fusion skills pipeline in the long term.
- Unlocking the UK Public Finance Institutions such as the British Business Bank and National Wealth Fund to back British businesses and support investment into the fusion sector and supply chain. “We will also explore regional incentives to attract more fusion investment to support the East Midlands fusion cluster building on the Government’s cornerstone investment into Starmaker One.
Policy innovation
A forward-leaning environment will be created for the fusion sector to thrive, “further developing the UK’s pro-innovation regulatory regime, streamlined planning, and developing the world’s first market framework for fusion energy”. This includes:
- Publishing a draft National Policy Statement for Fusion (EN-8) in Summer 2026 to simplify the planning regime for fusion companies locating in the UK and publishing a roadmap setting out regulatory processes for developers.
- Developing a plan for the UK to be the first country to offer a market framework for fusion energy. “We will provide providing leading incentives to site fusion facilities in the UK while balancing the need to protect future bill payers.
- Engage the energy insurance market to encourage proportionate insurance of fusion outside of the nuclear pools and standard nuclear exclusion clauses. Alongside this, the UK will continue to work with trusted partners around the world, including through fusion agreements with Canada, Germany, Japan, the US and others. “We will continue to promote a proportionate approach to regulation through multilateral fora such as the G7 and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and explore working with other multilateral organisations such as the International Energy Agency (IEA) and G20 where relevant to take a globally coordinated approach to fusion commercialisation.”
In conclusion, the Fusion Strategy “places the UK at the forefront of fusion development, and fusion development at the heart of our modern Industrial Strategy”. 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. “STEP remains our primary lever to overcome these barriers.”
International collaboration remains an important part of the UK’s fusion strategy. “Amidst increasing global competition, strategic partnerships continue to have a crucial role in accelerating commercialisation by collaborating on expertise, facilities and derisking R&D development.” The UK is committed to working with other countries and important international organisations such as the IAEA to reduce R&D duplication and harmonise regulations. “Together, these steps provide a comprehensive plan for fusion commercialisation, readying the UK for fusion deployment and a continued ramping up of economic activity over this Parliament – strengthening the case that fusion is not only coming, but that the benefits of fusion have already begun.”
