Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
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.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
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.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, from what budget line and over what time period funding will be provided for the commitment of up to (a) £200 million for a Fuel Cycle Testing Facility, (b) £200 million for vital R&D ensuring industry can develop and design components for future fusion powerplants, (c) £50 million for growing and improving the Culham campus in Oxfordshire, (d) £55 million for a Fusion Skills Programme, (e) £35 million additional funding for the Fusion Industry Programme, (f) £25 million to enhance international collaborations on fusion R&D, to export UK expertise and make best use of global knowledge to accelerate fusion energy, (g) £18 million for a Technology Transfer Hub and (h) £11 million to further support the STEP programme and upskill UK industry to help deliver it; and what the process will for deciding to whom the money from each commitment is allocated.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Fusion Futures is the UK’s alternative programme to Euratom R&T. The commitments will be funded from HM Treasury’s EU Programme ringfence which provides funding up to March 2028, subject to business cases. Further detail on the commercial arrangements for each commitment will be provided as the programme develops.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment her Department has made of the potential (a) merits and (b) feasibility of developing nuclear fusion technology.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Fusion energy could be the ultimate clean power solution, representing a low carbon, safe, continuous, and sustainable source of energy.
More work is required to make fusion energy a reality. In line with our Fusion Strategy, we are investing over £700 million from 2021/22 to 2024/25 in cutting-edge research programmes and facilities, to grow the capability of UK industry and make the UK the global hub for fusion innovation. We have committed over £240 million towards the first phase of STEP – a programme which aims to develop and build, by 2040, a prototype fusion power plant capable of delivering energy to the UK grid.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department plans to provide funding to help deliver the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) prototype fusion power plant by 2040.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Following machinery of government changes, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is the sponsor department for the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) which is delivering the STEP programme.
The Government has committed £240 million towards the first phase of the STEP programme. Work to develop a detailed concept design is on track. The UKAEA is setting up UK Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd (UKIFS), a special purpose vehicle that will develop and build the STEP prototype power plant. Early site development for STEP is already underway at West Burton, Nottinghamshire, to transform the site of a former coal-fired power station into a global hub for fusion innovation.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of not associating with the Euratom Research and Training Programme on domestic science and research capability.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Association to Euratom R&T would need to provide value to the UK’s fusion sector, nuclear researchers and taxpayers. As such it must reflect the lasting impact of two years of delay when UK researchers and businesses were not able to engage in the Euratom R&T Programme or compete for contracts at ITER.
We have been working with the UK Atomic Energy Authority to design an ambitious expansion of activity to secure delivery of the UK’s Fusion Strategy, including support for public and private sector projects. If we cannot agree terms for association these new measures will be implemented.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of seeking association with the Euratom Research and Training Programme.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Association to Euratom R&T would need to provide value to the UK’s fusion sector, nuclear researchers and taxpayers. As such it must reflect the lasting impact of two years of delay when UK researchers and businesses were not able to engage in the Euratom R&T Programme or compete for contracts at ITER.
We have been working with the UK Atomic Energy Authority to design an ambitious expansion of activity to secure delivery of the UK’s Fusion Strategy, including support for public and private sector projects. If we cannot agree terms for association these new measures will be implemented.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much from the public purse has been spent on nuclear fusion research since 2010.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and its predecessor departments funded approximately £800m in nuclear fusion research through the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority between 2009/10 and 2021/22. Final spend figures for 2022/23 will be published through audited accounts in due course. This excludes UK funding towards nuclear fusion research through Euratom R&T, the EU fusion programme, which was funded through the UK’s total contribution to the EU.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using nuclear fusion technology to provide energy.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Fusion energy has the potential to be the ultimate clean power solution, representing a low carbon, safe, continuous and sustainable source of energy. Fusion creates more energy per gram than any other process achievable on Earth, and unlike other methods of energy generation such as wind or solar power, does not depend on any external factors, meaning it can be deployed continuously at the point of need. Fusion also offers potential to be one of the most environmentally friendly sources of energy on earth. Its processes require hydrogen and lithium, both of which are widely available in many parts of the world. Moreover, the reaction does not emit any CO2 or other harmful emissions into our atmosphere and fusion power plants are not expected to create the very long-lived, high-level radioactive waste associated with fission.
The UK is widely recognised as a world-leader in fusion. To capitalise on this opportunity, the Government is investing over £700m in UK fusion research programmes and facilities over the next three years, and in February announced the formation of UK Industrial Fusion Solutions to deliver the STEP prototype fusion energy plant at West Burton in Nottinghamshire.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to reallocate the £1.6bn of funding allocated to Horizon and Euratom association for the financial year 2022-2023.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Government is committed to ensuring the UK is a Science Superpower. This is why, despite the challenging fiscal circumstances, the Chancellor recommitted at Autumn Statement 2022 to increase R&D spending to £20 billion in 24/25, a 30% cash increase from 2021/22 (the largest ever increase over a Spending Review period).
At Spending Review 2021, the Government set aside funding for the cost of associating to EU R&D programmes (Horizon, Euratom Research & Training and Fusion 4 Energy, and Copernicus), which was agreed with the EU in the December 2020 Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). Unfortunately, the EU has delayed the formalisation of the UK’s association due to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Our priority has been to support the UK R&D sector during this period of uncertainty. To mitigate EU delays, we have introduced the Horizon Guarantee as well as £684m of additional support for the R&D, fusion and Earth observation sectors.
The UK remains open to association to Horizon based on fair and reasonable terms and that the UK will only pay for the period of association to a programme. Any funding required for association in future years will be made available when there is clarity on UK association to EU programmes.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to develop nuclear fusion technology.
Answered by George Freeman
The Government published its Fusion Strategy in 2021, which describes how the UK will build on its fusion research leadership to commercialise fusion energy. The Government is investing over £700m into fusion research and innovation over three years and boosting private sector innovation in fusion’s technical challenges through a £42 million Fusion Industry Programme. In 2022 the Secretary of State for BEIS announced West Burton in Nottinghamshire as the site for STEP, the UK’s prototype fusion power plant, to be built by 2040 and capable of putting electricity on the grid.