The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) have announced a new 20-year collaboration to develop and deliver fusion-related skills, such as apprenticeships and vocational training programmes. This is a move to support the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP), which is the UK’s first prototype fusion energy power plant that will be built in Nottinghamshire.
The new collaboration will both provide crucial skills for STEP as well as supporting a growing fusion industry across the region. According to an Economic and Wider Impact Assessment, the West Burton site is anticipated to provide 6,500 full-time jobs.
Around half of the forecast STEP Campus construction jobs are expected to require Level 3+ qualifications, and it is estimated that nearly three quarters of the on-site jobs on the STEP Campus are expected to require individuals with Level 4+ qualifications.
Fusion has exciting capabilities of providing clean power and energy security, and is backed by the government’s record £2.5 billion investment.
The partnership will see UKAEA training the UK’s next generation of scientists and engineers, with East Midlands offering an outstanding base of training and skills providers, including universities. This EMCCA-led collaborative will bring together the best of this existing provision to empower people in the region to meet the skill needs of this globally significant clean energy programme.
UKAEA’s head of fusion skills and FOSTER (Fusion, Opportunities, Skills, Training, Education and Research) programme director, Nick Walkden said: “I am delighted to announce EMCCA as our partner in this exciting new training collaboration, which will be delivered out of our planned West Burton Training Facility.
“People are the most important element of any programme or project. We have listened and learned from other major research, engineering and infrastructure projects and believe that an early and focused attention to local skills and workforce growth will be a critical enabler of success.
“STEP is a programme with global impact and, as with the successive governments who have recognised fusions potential to have a significant and positive impact on the nation’s economy, we are equally committed to leaving a lasting local legacy. The training provided will equip people across the East Midlands, Lincolnshire, and South Yorkshire with the skills needed for the prototype fusion powerplant at West Burton as well as long-term career opportunities in fusion and beyond.”
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