The UK government has invited regions and communities across the country to put forward proposals to become the home of Step – the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production – the UK’s “ambitious and ground-breaking” programme to design and build a prototype fusion plant.

The government said the successful bidder could be first in line for thousands of new local highly skilled jobs, putting them at the heart of a green industrial revolution.

Communities will have until the end of March 2021 to submit their nominations and will need to demonstrate that their local area has just the right mix of social, commercial and technical conditions to host the new plant – such as adequate land conditions, grid connection and water supply.