The UK's Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) has awarded £3.6 million in funding to a team of UK industry and academia for delivery of a two-year research project focusing on nuclear safety and security research.
The project is led by Frazer-Nash, collaborating with Rolls-Royce, The National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL), EDF Energy, Jacobsen Analytics, Lancaster University, the University of Bristol and the University of York.
“Our project collaboration brings together a unique mix of expertise from industrial and academic organisations," commented Nial Greeves senior business executive for energy at Frazer-Nash. "This ground-breaking research and development project will demonstrate to the global nuclear industry that the UK is at the forefront of nuclear safety and security research.”
In 2015 the UK government committed to investing in nuclear research and development, with Beis expecting to invest £180m through its Energy Innovation Programme from 2016 to 2021.
The programme will include a range of R&D activities from improving control and instrumentation design for testability; developing a roadmap for regulatory approval of new/novel reactor designs; and the application of model-based systems engineering in the UK nuclear sector.
In November 2016, the initial phase of over £20m of funding was launched supporting innovation across five areas from 2016-18. The second tranche of funding was announced in December 2017, and as well as the work on safety and security studies, it also includes £4.3m of funding for work on advanced nuclear fuels, which will be carried out by NNL and Wood.
“Nuclear power plays a crucial role in maintaining a diverse, clean, secure electricity supply, and our modern Industrial Strategy aims to make Britain the world’s most innovative economy," said Richard Harrington, Business and Industry Minister.
