Blow to Miliband’s nuclear ambitions as top mini-nuke lab faces closure

Posted: 15th July 2024

Blow to Miliband’s nuclear ambitions as top mini-nuke lab faces closure. Closure puts spanner in the works for net zero aim of quadrupling nuclear power by 2050. A state-backed nuclear laboratory at the heart of Britain’s proposed mini-reactor revolution is facing closure in a headache for new Energy Secretary Ed Miliband. Researchers and staff at Sheffield University’s Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) have been warned of possible redundancies amid a major overhaul. The centre, which employs about 150 people, is focused on engineering the specialist steel needed to build small modular reactors (SMRs) – a key element of Britain’s strategy to quadruple nuclear power by 2050. Staff have been told that only about 30 of them will be retained and they will be absorbed into the larger university-run Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, which employs about 700 workers. The plan represents a blow to Britain’s nuclear ambitions and a challenge for Mr Miliband as he seeks to chart a path towards a low-carbon future. Nuclear energy is regarded as a crucial part of the country’s net zero mix because it can supply constant power output when there is no wind or sunshine. SMRs were championed by the previous government because they are far smaller and cheaper to build than a traditional nuclear plant. The AMRC closure means dozens of engineering and nuclear specialists could be lost – with many likely to be recruited by largely overseas companies now leading in nuclear manufacturing. The centre is owned by the University of Sheffield but is overseen by industrial partners such as Rolls-Royce and French energy giant EDF, which have made multimillion-pound investments at its site on the Sheffield-Rotherham border. The overhaul comes as Great British Nuclear (GBN), a government arms-length body created to drive forward delivery of new nuclear-generating capacity in the UK, runs a competition to select two designs of SMR to take forward for development.

Telegraph 12th July 2024

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/07/12/top-mini-nuclear-reactor-lab-closure-blow-miliband/