£40mln for UK nuclear technology
The UK government is investing £40mln to develop the next generation of nuclear energy technology.
The UK government is investing £40mln to develop the next generation of nuclear energy technology, creating R&D and manufacturing jobs. Some of this funding will support three advanced modular reactor (AMR) projects.
The AMR projects in Oxfordshire, Cheshire and Lancashire will receive £30mln of funding. The remaining £10mln will be invested in smaller research, design, and manufacturing projects to create up to 200 jobs.
The successful AMR projects, awarded £10 million funding each, are -
- Tokamak Energy, Oxfordshire – working to develop fusion reactors
- Westinghouse, Lancashire – developing a lead-cooled fast reactor, a type of fission reactor
- U-Battery, Cheshire – working on a small high temperature gas-cooled fission reactor
Half of the remaining funds will be invested in companies and start-ups, developing new ways of manufacturing advanced nuclear parts for modular reactor projects. Regional projects that have secured funding so far include:
- U-Battery, Concept Development and Demonstrator for U-Battery AMR Off-Site Modular Construction in Capenhurst - £1.1 million
- Jacobs, Evaluation Technologies for Advanced Manufacturing Qualification in Warrington - £181,431
- Laser Additive Solutions, SonicSMR, in Doncaster - £826,633
- Cavendish Nuclear, AWESIM in Sheffield - £1.3 million
- Sheffield Forgemasters, Large scale thick section electron beam welding - £8 million
- Rolls-Royce Submarines, SAS in Derby - £259,989
- Rolls-Royce Submarines, FAST in Derby - £1.4 million
- Nuclear Energy Components, PITCO2C, in the Hope Valley at Bradwell - £378,000
- Createc Technologies, MW-CT in Whitehaven - £314,595
- Cammell Laird, FAITH in the Wirral - £5.1 million
- EDF Energy, in Gloucester, £1,373,095
The remaining £5 million will be put to strengthening the UK’s nuclear regulatory regime.
