Nuclear research and innovation has been bolstered at the AMRC with the launch of a new group made up of former Nuclear AMRC staff, helping secure the UK's pivotal role in the future of the nuclear sector and supporting ambitions for growth and net-zero emissions.
Based at the AMRC’s South Yorkshire cluster of research and innovation centres in Rotherham and Sheffield, the new group enhances the AMRC’s existing nuclear sector capability and supports its nationally important role in de-risking investment in new technologies that can accelerate and drive manufacturing innovation into the sector.
The team has already had good success in securing new work of scale in recent months in support of the nuclear sector and is building on existing and ongoing collaborations with the likes of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, Sandvik, Cavendish, Nuclear Transport Solutions, EPRI and Deep Isolation.
The new group is the eighth at the AMRC, which is part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult national network or research centres. It adds to the University of Sheffield and AMRC’s existing and expanding portfolio of nuclear-related activity, which includes the AMRC’s partnership and project work with Rolls-Royce SMR to manufacture and test prototype modules to be assembled into small modular reactors.
Driving innovation into nuclear
Ben Morgan, interim chief executive officer at the AMRC, said the former Nuclear AMRC staff had successfully integrated into the organisation through the creation of the new group, which will help to strengthen its nuclear offering.
He added: “Nuclear energy is a vital component of the pathway to net zero and effectively harnessed, it can bring high value growth across many parts of the UK. This group will significantly bolster our offering to the sector and help industry to deliver through research and innovation.
“The AMRC and the wider University has a strong track record of providing R&D inputs into the nuclear energy sector on a range of capabilities from new build, to waste, to decommissioning.
“We have been working with Rolls-Royce SMR to de-risk its manufacturing approach which could have a significant UK economic impact as this world-leading technology comes on stream, hopefully in the coming months.
“Our priority looking ahead will be to ensure that the investment in these technologies delivers significant economic benefit for the UK, and in particular regions across the UK.”
