Nuclear powerU.K. govt. awards £37.1 million for civilian nuclear research

Published 2 November 2012

The U.K. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has announced an award of 37.1 million pounds to the University of Sheffield’s Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Center (Nuclear AMRC), which are working in partnership with Rolls-Royce as the lead company for the U.K. nuclear supply chain

The U.K. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has announced an award of £37.1 million to the University of Sheffield’s Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Center (Nuclear AMRC), which are working in partnership with Rolls-Royce as the lead company for the U.K. nuclear supply chain.

The Regional Growth Fund is designed to support a “program of supplier development and manufacturing research and development to create value in the U.K. that would otherwise migrate overseas.”

The Nuclear AMRC has been awarded the funds — subject to the usual due diligence — to support its large-scale program of supplier development and manufacturing research in partnership with key industrial members. The program focuses on the civil nuclear new-build industry, but has broad applicability across the nuclear value chain and other industries in the Energy sector.

Director of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, Professor Keith Ridgway, said: “We are delighted with the announcement of this very important support from the Regional Growth Fund and the understanding from the Government about just how vital this work is to the U.K. economy. The program we are operating at the Nuclear AMRC is ambitious and high-impact when compared to other supplier development initiatives, providing strong support for U.K. suppliers with aspirations to address the global civil nuclear new build opportunity, and creating process technology and intellectual property that will enable export-led growth and long-term competitive advantage for U.K. supply chains.

This is a vital opportunity for British manufacturing companies, and we want to support the supply chain in developing the skills to operate in this high value market, in the same way as we have so successfully worked together in relation to aerospace. It is believed that this market could be worth more than £500 billion over the next ten years.”