National Nuclear Laboratory

News

Thursday 3 November 2016

NNL Welcomes Funding for National Nuclear Research Programme

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The National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) welcomes today’s announcement of the first round of funding for the UK’s national programme of nuclear research and innovation. This announcement represents the first phase of the ambitious nuclear R&D programme announced during the 2015 Spending Review, totalling £250M over five years in a number of areas. The announcement – made today by Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Greg Clark in Manchester – builds on the excellent work of the Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board, chaired by Dame Sue Ion.

The funding – at least £20M to support nuclear innovation across a number of key priority areas over the next 2 years – will help to return the UK to the world’s “top table” of leading nuclear nations. The areas identified are as follows:

  • Advanced nuclear fuels
  • Advanced reprocessing
  • Materials and manufacturing techniques
  • Reactor safety methodologies
  • Digital reactor design
  • Development of toolkits, cost models and underpinning data

NNL Managing Director, Paul Howarth, commented:

“This is great news. Today’s announcement is a vital step in re-establishing the UK as a world-leader in nuclear innovation. For many years we have had top-class facilities and bright people across industry, the academic sector and in NNL. This funding will be the catalyst for a programme of research work to realise the full potential of those people and facilities at what is a crucial time of opportunity for Britain’s nuclear sector.”

For further information on funding opportunities please see the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/funding-for-nuclear-innovation