Fusion Industry Association and The Fusion Cluster Lay Out Strategic Priorities Ahead of UK Election

The United Kingdom is a world leader in fusion energy – a source of potentially unlimited strategically secure and affordable, low-carbon energy. Once commercialised, fusion is perhaps the ultimate energy source: zero carbon at the point of generation, energy dense, and with abundant fuels. As the UK general election draws closer, the Fusion Industry Association is delighted to have worked with The Fusion Cluster to lay out the importance of the fusion sector to the UK and issue key asks of incoming Parliamentarians and Ministers. Commercial fusion’s contributions to energy security, the economy, and to science & innovation represent a huge and imminent opportunity.

The FIA and The Fusion Cluster call on all incoming MPs and Government to:

1. Visit the UK’s public and private Fusion facilities, and see that we are ready to deliver.
2. Sustain support for: the STEP programme, wider UKAEA research activities, and progression of other fusion technologies towards first plants.
3. Progress the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s work supporting skills and driving growth in innovative private industry in the UK.
4. Continue and deepen support for international and multilateral cooperation to accelerate the deployment of fusion energy.
5. Continue supporting measures to stimulate private fusion investment.
6. Continue developing the planning measure, National Policy Statement EN-8.
7. Begin to develop, with industry, an energy market framework which is ready to adopt private fusion powerplants.

The global race for commercial fusion is on, with companies aiming to deliver commercial plants through the coming years – making large-scale deployment through the 2030s and 2040s a real prospect. The fusion industry could be worth £billions to the economy in the coming decades – and offers a British export to overcome global climate change. This will only be possible if we stimulate private investment, alongside public programmes, to develop, operate and own fusion technology across the value chain.

Please contact Tristam Denton, FIA UK Director, and Valerie Jamieson, Manager of The Fusion Cluster, with any questions.