Fuel Cycle Technical Specification Development

The STEP programme aims to deliver a UK prototype fusion energy power plant in the 2040s and establish a credible pathway to the commercial deployment of fusion energy. United Kingdom Fusion Energy Ltd (UKFE Ltd) seeks to maximise the national and regional economic and industrial benefit of the STEP programme, in line with the strategy published in March 2026, which is featured below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-fusion-energy-ltd-ukfe-strategy

Expertise in fusion and particularly tritium handling system design, manufacture, and commissioning is concentrated within national laboratories, research facilities, and a limited specialist supply chain. There is not yet a unified set of nationally or internationally adopted codes and standards that define prescriptive tritium design and qualification requirements in a form readily accessible to new or adjacent suppliers.

This absence of clear, standardised, and accessible design benchmarks represents a barrier to wider supply‐chain engagement and hinders opportunities to expand UK industrial participation in fusion delivery. This contract aims to develop baseline technical specifications for select fuel cycle equipment that would enable pre-qualification of equipment suppliers for STEP.