Cumbria's Moorside narrowed down for UK's first nuclear fusion site

Moorside, in Cumbria, England has been selected as the county's major contender for the building of the UK's first nuclear fusion power plant as well as its surrounding facilities.

This competition comes as part of the STEP project - short for Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production  - which has been given a £222 million (€251 million) government stimulus to be followed by a multi-billion pound construction investment.

Read more: UK scouts for first nuclear fusion site

The site selected is located next to the Sellafield nuclear complex and was selected following a local competition by Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership (Cumbria LEP) in collaboration with a number of partners.

Construction on the project is set to commence in 2024 and the plant is slated to hit peak operations by 2040.

The selection process was started by the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) in December as a nationwide appeal to find a host for the site.

Officials have estimated the project may cost as much as £2 billion (€2.29 billion) to build.

Potential sites for the construction of the plant have until the end of March to be entered.

Cumbria LEP CEO Jo Lappin told CumbriaCrack the selected site meets all the necessary criteria laid out by the UK Atomic Agency.

She said: “The STEP programme is an innovative and exciting opportunity to take clean energy production to the next level and we believe that Cumbria can help the UK to be at the forefront of that process. Our outstanding heritage in this area means that we are exceptionally well placed to deliver, given our skills, experience and expertise in the nuclear industry.

“We hope the whole of Cumbria can get behind the selection of Moorside as our candidate to go forward to the national competition.”

Moorside was previously considered for a 3.2GW nuclear power station operated and owned by NuGeneration, but was scrapped after the company went into liquidation.

The site still remains in consideration for more low-carbon projects in the future.

It is one of a number of industrial projects to take place in the north of England as many local industry players look to transform the area into the UK's leader in a number of sectors.

Nissan is looking to expand production at its battery plant in Sunderland as the company looks to address sector shortages by using local suppliers following the UK's Brexit deal with the EU.

By 2027 all British and European carmakers will have to source their car batteries from either the UK or EU or face tariffs.

The UK's Court of Appeals recently blocked an appeal by environmental activists to prevent the building to Europe's largest gas power plant in Yorkshire.

The activists thought the project went against the UK's climate goals as the plant would still be operational following the transition date.

The Tees Valley has been getting attention from local and national authorities to turn it into a technological hub, particularly for renewable hydrogen-powered transport.

Read more: UK's first hydrogen train undergoes preliminary trials

Rolls-Royce has also announced its intention to build 16 mini-nuclear power plants across the midlands and the north of England in order to help the UK government meet its climate goals.

The project is expected to create at least 6,000 jobs over the next five years and has received £200 million in funding from the Treasury as part of a green pandemic recovery scheme.

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