The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) have today announced a new twenty-year collaboration to advance fusion energy training and skills development.
The collaboration will focus on developing and delivering fusion-related skills, including apprenticeships and wider vocational training programmes, to support the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) project – the UK’s first prototype fusion energy power plant, which will be built on the West Burton site in Nottinghamshire.
This new collaboration will not only provide crucial skills for STEP but also support a growing fusion industry across the region. An Economic and Wider Impact Assessment commissioned by relevant local authorities has calculated that, by the time it is fully operational, the West Burton site is anticipated to accommodate 6,500 full-time jobs across STEP and the surrounding business park, equivalent to 12.5 per cent of the current total workplace jobs in Bassetlaw. Around half of the forecast STEP Campus construction jobs are expected to require Level 3+ qualifications, and it is estimated that nearly three-quarters of the on-site jobs on the STEP Campus will require individuals with Level 4+ qualifications.
Fusion has the potential to provide abundant, clean power and deliver energy security. Bolstered by the government’s record £2.5 billion investment, the sector promises to create thousands of jobs and empower the UK to export its world-leading technology to a global market expected to be worth trillions of pounds in the future.
UKAEA is committed to facilitating the training of the next generation of British scientists and engineers. The East Midlands benefits from an outstanding base of training and skills providers and universities. This EMCCA-led collaborative will bring together the best of this existing provision to empower people in the region to meet the skill needs of this globally significant clean energy programme.
Training provided through the new collaborative will be designed with flexibility to adapt as the STEP programme and the West Burton site evolve. Initial training will focus on the engineering and project skills needed to complete plant design, with construction and operational skills as focus areas for future stages of the programme.
The collaboration will deliver fusion-relevant courses through existing training sites across the EMCCA geography, South Yorkshire, and Greater Lincolnshire. Colleges, training providers, and universities are already mobilising to offer more places for construction and clean energy qualifications, gearing up the region to deliver on its emerging inclusive growth strategy even before the West Burton facility is in place.
“I am delighted to announce EMCCA as our partner in this exciting new training collaboration, which will be delivered out of our planned West Burton Training Facility,” said UKAEA’s Head of Fusion Skills and FOSTER (Fusion, Opportunities, Skills, Training, Education and Research) Programme Director, Nick Walkden.
“People are the most important element of any programme or project. We have listened and learned from other major research, engineering, and infrastructure projects and believe that early and focussed attention to local skills and workforce growth will be a critical enabler of success.
“STEP is a programme with global impact and, as with the successive governments who have recognised fusion’s potential to have a significant and positive impact on the nation’s economy, we are equally committed to leaving a lasting local legacy. The training provided will equip people across the East Midlands, Lincolnshire, and South Yorkshire with the skills needed for the prototype fusion power plant at West Burton, as well as long-term career opportunities in fusion and beyond.”
The STEP programme, led by UK Industrial Fusion Solutions (UKIFS), provides an enormous opportunity for regional growth and regeneration, with the potential to create thousands of jobs during construction and a pipeline of long-term, highly skilled careers over decades of operations. Permissions and consents will be sought for construction to begin in the early 2030s, with the prototype power plant targeting first operations in 2040.
Paul Methven, CEO, UK Industrial Fusion Solutions and Senior Responsible Owner of STEP, said: “Delivering STEP, and commercial fusion beyond that, will require a strong skills pipeline, not only in STEM subjects but in every aspect of running a complex business. It is fantastic to see that UKAEA is leading on putting this essential enabler in place now to ensure local people benefit directly from the programme, in addition to ensuring we have the skills needed to deliver STEP.”
Claire Ward, Mayor of the East Midlands, said: “The East Midlands is planning for our energy future today, and fusion energy is an exciting part of that future. One day – thanks to the Nottinghamshire-based STEP programme – the whole region will benefit from clean, affordable fusion energy. Right now, my priority is ensuring that local people can get the jobs associated with developing this new industry and its supply chains. This is what inclusive growth in practice looks like – investing smartly to ensure that growth is created, sustained, and experienced by local people.
“The Fusion Skills Collaboration embodies this goal, and our outstanding colleges, training providers, and universities will be front and centre in training people in the skills of the future.”
