Five sites have been shortlisted as the potential future home of the UK’s first prototype fusion energy plant – the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production, or Step – with a final decision to be made around the end of 2022 and operation scheduled for the early 2040s.

The sites are: Ardeer, North Ayrshire; Goole, Yorkshire; Moorside, Cumbria; Ratcliffe-on-Soar, Nottinghamshire; and Severn Edge, Gloucestershire.

Fifteen sites were long-listed following an open call for sites between December 2020 and March 2021. The shortlist, announced by the UK Atomic Energy Authority, follows an initial phase of assessment.