The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) has formed a partnership with Centrum výzkumu Řež (CVŘ) to build a test rig that will provide critical data in the development of the UK’s first fusion plant.

The UKAEA has signed a multi-year deal with the Czech Republic research organisation to enable unique testing of high temperature superconducting (HTS) tapes.

Data from this testing will be critical in the development of the UK’s first prototype fusion energy power plant, the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP), which aims to be operational by 2040.

STEP was first announced in 2019 when the UK government revealed it was committing £220m to the design of the plant. Three years later, in October 2022, it announced that it would be built on a site in north Nottinghamshire.

The reason for this substantial investment is that fusion is a potential source of almost limitless clean energy, which is vital amid rising energy prices and our climate crisis. However, it poses daunting engineering...