By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
Local leaders will have “failed” if a new power station is the only benefit from new fusion technology plans in Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire County Council says.
The major project, which aims to bring nuclear fusion energy to the decommissioned West Burton A power station, was confirmed in October.
The site was selected ahead of 15 other UK locations and is expected to bring more than £20bn and up to 10,000 jobs to the area once complete.
Fusion energy, or Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP), involves recreating and harnessing the energy process which powers the sun.
The new site could be built as soon as 2040 if scientists can finalise the rapidly-developing technology to replicate it.
The long-term plan is to replace fossil fuel power stations with the new nuclear fusion model.
It will be led by the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) but local authorities such as the county council will help in bringing the scheme forward.
Now the Conservative-led authority has outlined plans to capitalise on the project by bringing significant economic benefits off the back of the scheme.
A meeting of the council’s cabinet on Thursday (March 9) heard the hub is expected to feature on-site businesses and industries relating to STEP fusion.
An on-site skills centre to train people in the field is also planned while a travel strategy – including a potential new railway station – could allow people to access thousands of new jobs.
In the meeting, Councillor Keith Girling (Con), cabinet member for economic development, said: “If all we end up with is a power station then we will have failed.
“The UKAEA has set up a base in Oxfordshire and that is expanding incredibly well, with some really top-notch, innovative companies working in the same sorts of industries.
“There’s also a college down there and the idea is to have this sort of thing on the [Bassetlaw] site, moving the template along but this will be a bigger site.”
He added: “We’ve already started discussions with rail authorities about having a train station there and … we will also look at what road infrastructure we need to put in.”
The meeting also heard from Charles Price, director for strategy and investment at the UKAEA, who said the project has local, regional, national and global ramifications.
“One of the key things in this is the economic analysis and coming up with figures for growth potential,” he said.
“What we want to do is build a whole supply chain and an investment community.
“Step one is working together to think about the local and regional benefits, but then beyond that thinking about the national and international ones.”
But he added: “We want to do this as fast as possible but this will all take persistence and strategic patience.”
It follows Bassetlaw District Council approving a motion in December to set out a 20-year plan to make the most of the “unique opportunity”.
This included persuading businesses to come to a district “on the move”.
It also aimed to make Bassetlaw a more attractive place to live, rather than having people commuting to the site from elsewhere.
And it will “promote the district’s wider offering” now it has a “world-leading project on our doorstep”.
Cllr James Naish (Lab), the district council’s leader, previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “There’s going to be a real melting pot of interest in this development as it comes forwards.
“If we don’t have this vision and start selling it publicly, Bassetlaw could miss out on that incredible opportunity.”
Construction of the plant is due to start in the early 2030s and become operational by about 2040.
