Exploring Fusion Energy Careers: STEP Program Inspires Local Students in the UK

Young people got hands-on with the future of clean energy last week, as the STEP team hosted a workshop, in partnership with Bassetlaw District Council, to kick off Bassetlaw MP Jo White’s Summer School.

Hosted at The Bridge Skills Hub and Fusion Energy Café in Worksop, students explored the ongoing transformation of the West Burton site, asked big questions about fusion energy, and met the people already helping to deliver the STEP programme.

Career Journeys into Fusion Energy

The students heard directly from STEP employees about their own career journeys into the industry, from engineering and science to communications and project management, and discussed how a project like STEP will require people of all talents and backgrounds to succeed.

Mock Select Committee Session in Parliament

Then on Monday, the students started their week in Parliament, as part of Jo White’s Summer School, where they took part in a mock Select Committee session. They put their questions to STEP’s Head of Communications Ben Bradley, alongside representatives from government and industry, grilling them on the progress of the STEP Programme and the opportunities it will create locally, as well as the wider clean energy sector.

Ben Bradley, STEP Head of Communications, said: "Part of STEP’s mission to develop our prototype fusion energy power plant is about the benefit we can bring to communities and economies across North Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and the wider East Midlands, so it was great to engage with talented young people and discuss the opportunities of the programme."

A Growing Relationship with Local Communities

The event at the Fusion Energy Café and The Bridge Skills Hub was hosted by Bassetlaw District Council and marks a growing relationship between STEP, based at West Burton in North Nottinghamshire, and surrounding local communities.

Bassetlaw MP Jo White said: "When I stood for election, my commitment to local people was that I would resurrect the summer school that former MP John Mann ran for 11 years. I saw for myself the difference it made with young people."

About STEP

The first of its kind, STEP is the UK’s major technology and infrastructure programme to build a prototype fusion power plant that will demonstrate net energy, fuel self-sufficiency and a viable route to plant maintenance. This will pave the way for the potential development of a fleet of future fusion power plants around the world and the commercialisation of fusion energy.

Social media coverage and images from the Bassetlaw workshop event

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