# UK STEP fusion plant programme has spent nearly £120m on design and backs more than 370 British suppliers

Canonical page: https://technooptimist.io/stories/uk-step-fusion-plant-programme-has-spent-nearly-120m-on-design-and-466a7c2f
Date: 13 Oct 2026
About: [UK Fusion Energy](https://technooptimist.io/companies/uk-fusion-energy.md) · [STEP Fusion](https://technooptimist.io/energy/step-fusion.md)
Original source: https://stepfusion.com/uk-fusion-power-plant-programme-achieves-major-delivery-milestones-while-backing-british-business/

The UK's STEP fusion power plant programme, sited at West Burton in Nottinghamshire, has put nearly £120 million into design work, and more than 370 UK suppliers have benefited. The programme says it has moved from concept to preliminary design and expanded its technology demonstration.

## Key facts

- ILIOS Consortium was appointed as construction partner and Tokamak Energy as the programme's first system partner.
- Part of the West Burton site has been acquired to host the plant; 49 of the suppliers are from the area around it.
- About £1.3 billion of the £2.5 billion government fusion funding over five years is allocated to STEP; about 80% of spending stays in the UK.
- For 2026/27 the programme plans more design work, planning engagement and technology demonstration before later delivery phases.

---

The Techno Optimist tracks every frontier of technology, program by program: https://technooptimist.io/ (a Markdown version of any page: add .md to its URL; site map for agents: https://technooptimist.io/llms.txt).
Data API (JSON, realtime stream): https://technooptimist.io/developers. People read 5 pages free, then Reader $10/month; these Markdown pages are open to agents.