Preparations are well underway for the submission of Cumbria’s application to be considered as the site to host a fusion energy plant.
Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership is working with Copeland Borough Council and others on an application to the UK Atomic Energy Authority for the Moorside site in Copeland to be considered as the site to host a Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (or STEP) fusion facility.
If successful, this would mean the county would be chosen as the location for the development of a pioneering nuclear fusion technology.
Cumbria LEP’s chief executive, Jo Lappin, updated members of Cumbria County Council’s LEP scrutiny board on Monday as to the progress of the county’s bid.
Mrs Lappin said that the expression of interest phase in the bidding process has now been completed, and that they were now working to develop a really strong application that will go in at the end of March.
“The reason why this matters is not only is it about siting the most advanced energy production technology in the world in Cumbria, but also about a significant science and technology park that will surround the STEP facility,” she said.
The LEP’s involvement in the bidding process for the siting of a STEP fusion plant forms part of its wider Restart, Reboot, Rethink strategy, which has been developed in order to help guide Cumbria towards economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
