Magnet Confinement Systems

In addition to UKAEA's research activities on the MAST spherical tokamak and participation in the JET research programme, an ambitious, £220 million collaborative programme was launched - STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) - to accelerate the delivery of sustainable fusion energy. The STEP programme is a staged programme, combining the strengths of UKAEA with industry, universities and other organisations, to design and build the world's first compact fusion reactor, based on the spherical tokamak, by 2040.

The STEP programme aims to:

• Build on UK global leadership in fusion;

• Deliver a prototype reactor by 2040;

• Prove the viability of fusion as a technology for generating electricity.

Over the period to 31 March 2024, the STEP programme will:

• Create an investible concept design;

• Understand the market and how the reactor will be built;

• Enable and inspire the UK's capability and capacity to deliver.

After the concept design phase, it is expected that there will be increasing involvement of private-sector companies in the STEP programme, with the technology eventually transferred into the private sector for production and implementation.

STEP product development has been split into functional categories (e.g. plant architecture, plasma control, confinement, in-vessel components, fuel cycle, etc.), most of which will require increasing levels of Manufacturing support as design concept iterations are progressed, culminating in a requirement for specific Design for Manufacture (DfM) and non-destructive evaluation (NDE) assessment and guidance.

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