STEP
STEP is a tokamak fusion project run by UK Industrial Fusion Solutions / UKAEA in United Kingdom. It is planned. Like every fusion device built so far, it has produced no net electricity.
What it has actually demonstrated
No hardware. Site selected at West Burton, Nottinghamshire; £1.3 billion committed.
A spherical tokamak prototype intended to demonstrate net electricity, targeted for 2040. The spherical geometry is more compact than ITER's but leaves very little room for the central solenoid and the shielding a tritium-breeding blanket needs — the engineering trade at the heart of the design.
Project
| Organisation | UK Industrial Fusion Solutions / UKAEA |
|---|---|
| Approach | tokamak |
| Confinement | magnetic |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Status | Planned |
| First plasma | not yet |
Targets
| Target date | 2040 |
|---|---|
| Power target | none stated |
| Energy gain target | none stated |
| Net electricity | No. no fusion device has produced any |
Other tokamak projects
Fusion needs tritium, and the world's civilian stock comes mostly from CANDU fission reactors. See the fusion overview.
Sources
- World Nuclear Association, Nuclear Fusion Power · retrieved 2026-09-07