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Guidance

Fusion energy developers: engage early with regulators

How fusion energy developers can engage early with the Environment Agency and Health and Safety Executive to get regulatory advice before applying for permits and other approvals.

From:
Environment Agency and Health and Safety Executive
Published:
14 September 2026

Applies to England

If you are proposing to develop a fusion energy facility in England, you can engage with the regulators to get advice before entering formal regulatory processes. Your facility can be a research and development facility, a scaled pilot plant or a commercial plant.

This guidance explains how fusion developers can enter the early engagement process with the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

This guidance is for organisations exploring or proposing developing fusion facilities in England but may also be helpful to other parties interested in the process.

For more information on the environmental regulation of fusion energy, see Fusion energy: environmental regulation.

You can also read more about HSEs role in regulating fusion.

Why engage early with regulators

The fusion industry is rapidly developing from research and development towards commercial power generation. The Environment Agency and HSE are the regulators for fusion in England. 

If you are involved in designing or potentially developing and operating a fusion facility, engage with regulators early to:

  • understand the technology to be deployed
  • get advice about regulatory processes and requirements
  • clarify regulatory expectations
  • set out development plans and timescales
  • develop effective ways of working

How fusion early engagement works

Early engagement is voluntary. You are not required to request early engagement to get a permit or meet other regulatory requirements.

Regulators will consider requests for early engagement on a case-by-case basis. 

The regulators will review their approach to engagement to ensure it:

  • is proportionate
  • corresponds to the stage of design you are at

How to enter the fusion early engagement process

Step 1 – Check that you are ready to engage with the regulators

Before contacting the regulators for early engagement, you need to ensure any project is at an appropriate stage to enable productive discussions. 

Designers and prospective operators of fusion facilities should consider the following:  

  1. Do you have plans in place or under consideration to establish a site in England?

  2. Do you have a baseline or conceptual design with an indicative understanding of:

    • potential locations and timescales for construction and operation
    • materials to be used such as radioactive substances, water or chemicals

  3. Have you reviewed the available information, including the regulatory landscape information published by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)?

  4. Have you reviewed any other guidance relevant to the development of a fusion facility, as listed in the section ‘For more information and guidance’, for example:

    • land use planning requirements
    • health and safety
    • environmental permitting

  5. After reviewing the available information and guidance, do you still have specific questions to ask the Environment Agency?

Step 2 – Contact the Environment Agency

If you think you are at a stage where face-to-face discussions with the regulators will be useful, you should contact the Environment Agency. Email fusion@environment-agency.gov.uk and request early engagement.  

The regulators will work together to coordinate joint discussions. They will ask you for further information about your fusion project to make sure you are ready for engagement.

There will be a charge for the early engagement meeting. Each regulator will provide further information about charging agreements to you alongside their request for further information.

Your organisation will also be subject to a due diligence check, conducted by DESNZ, before a meeting can be arranged.

If the regulators or DESNZ decide you are not ready for early engagement, they will:

  • tell you what additional information they think you need
  • advise you to reapply at a later date

Step 3 – Attend an introductory meeting

If the regulators agree that the project is at an appropriate stage, they will arrange an early engagement meeting. You can decide whether it is face-to-face or virtual.

You should ensure that you have sufficient expertise to attend the meeting, to provide detail of your project and engage constructively with the regulators. 

The early engagement meeting is: 

  • an introductory engagement focused on information exchange and early regulatory guidance 

  • focused on specific regulatory framework queries, timescales and technology

  • intended to improve your understanding of the UK regulatory framework for fusion 

  • an opportunity to better understand your proposed technology, organisational capabilities and deployment plans 

  • a chance to discuss potential regulatory pathways, risks and other major considerations 

The meeting is not: 

  • a formal regulatory approval or endorsement 

  • an indication that the regulators will grant subsequent approvals, consents or permits

Step 4 – What happens after early engagement

Following the early engagement meeting, the regulators will provide a report summarising:

  • what was discussed
  • advice provided, if any
  • actions to be taken forward, if any

For more information and guidance

For more information and guidance on environmental permitting for radioactive substances, see: 

For more information and guidance on environmental permitting for other regimes, see check if you need an environmental permit.

Updates to this page

Published 14 September 2026

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