YORK scientists are at the centre of an ambitious bid to bring a prototype fusion plant to Yorkshire.

The move promises limitless low-carbon nuclear energy one day by copying the natural processes that power the sun and the stars.

The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) has shortlisted a site in Goole as one of five possible locations.

Research carried out by Professor Howard from the University of York’s Department of Physics and the York Plasma Institute are underpinning the county’s bid.

Prof Wilson has been working on a scheme called the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production programme (STEP). He was the first STEP director while on secondment to the UKAEA.

He said: “Fusion is the most fundamental form of energy that you could imagine, and what we are trying to do is to reproduce the fusion conditions of the sun here on Earth,” said Professor Wilson.

“Successful fusion would provide humankind with a sustainable, carbon-free source of energy, helping the UK to meet its long-term climate change targets and reducing our dependence on unsustainable, polluting fossil fuels.”

Fusion energy is created when two isotopes of hydrogen are fused to release energy, creating four million times more energy for every kilogram of fuel than burning coal, oil or gas.

Professor Wilson and the team of researchers at the York Plasma Institute are experience ed in researching plasma and fusion energy.

In addition to STEP, their studies have helped a French scheme due for completion around 2025 to build the world’s largest magnetic device.

STEP, meanwhile, is an ambitious UK project to design a more compact version of a fusion device.

York physicists support this national fusion research programme, which is led by UKAEA, and several of its PhD students are based at the Culham Science Centre, near Oxford, working on key plasma physics aspects of its design.

The STEP prototype reactor is expected to be operational by around 2040. It will have many features of a fully operational power station, including infrastructure and associated research and development facilities. It will approach the scale and cost of a commercial power station, aiming to be among the first to demonstrate net electricity from fusion energy.

The University of York says its academics will continue to play a key role collaborating with UKAEA in the development of STEP alongside the large French project, while also working with ambitious private fusion company programmes. As well as providing further technical expertise, they will be training the future fusion scientists as STEP moves towards a concept design by 2024 and engineering design beyond that.

Professor Howard added: “This is an exciting time to be involved in fusion.”