Ministers pledge record £410m to support UK nuclear fusion energy
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Ed Miliband says funding pledge means Britain within ‘grasping distance’ of ‘secure, clean, unlimited energy’. The UK government has promised a record £410m investment in nuclear fusion which could help construct a world-leading fusion power project on the site of an old coal plant in Nottinghamshire.
![[The fusion reactor simulator, used for training, at JET, at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/2b4982d79c8ef73a12d39c31792d56a200cda931/0_192_5760_3456/master/5760.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Ministers hope the funding, which will be made available for the coming financial year, will support the rapid development of the UK fusion energy sector and deliver “a future powered by limitless clean energy”. The funding will include the development of the prototype power plant at the now decommissioned West Burton coal-fired power plant in Nottinghamshire by 2040, and repurposing the UK’s pioneering fusion machine at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy in Oxfordshire.
It follows the government’s promise of “significant support” for nuclear fusion research in its first autumn budget statement since coming to power last year. Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, said the investment meant that Britain was “now within grasping distance of unlocking the power of the sun and providing families with secure, clean, unlimited energy”.
Nuclear fusion is considered the holy grail of energy because it holds the promise of limitless clean power with no greenhouse gases or radioactive waste by-products. It involves smashing together light elements such as hydrogen to form heavier elements, releasing a huge burst of energy in the process. This process, which also helps create the heat and light of the sun and other stars, means that a single kilogram of fusion fuel could provide as much energy as 10m kg of fossil fuel.
