Image by Markus Distelrath from Pixabay
 

Nuclear services company Westinghouse has received a Direct Award Grant from the UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to explore the development of uranium conversion services at the company’s Springfields facility in Lancashire, England.

 

The £13 million ($15.9 million) award from BEIS, along with ongoing Westinghouse investment, will be used to prepare the necessary design and enabling work to begin new conversion capability from 2028.

 

According to BEIS, the investment holds strategic importance to ensure fuel production for the current UK’s advanced gas cooled reactor fleet. The funding will mean the UK has the option of being less reliant on imports from abroad and will help Westinghouse develop the capability to convert both reprocessed uranium and freshly mined uranium to make new fuel.

 

“There is a strong global appetite for diversified and secure sources of supply of fuel and services and the UK’s nuclear excellence and experience, particularly at Springfields, offer utilities an attractive option,” said Tarik Choho Westinghouse president of Nuclear Fuel. “We are delighted the UK government recognises the role of Springfields, and its workforce, as a strategic asset that supports a clean and secure energy future.”

 

As well as bolstering UK energy security, ministers hope it will also deliver export opportunities for the sector and position the UK as a key international supplier of nuclear fuel and fuel cycle services.

 

UK’s nuclear investment

The £13 million grant to Westinghouse was part of a £77 million investment package by the UK government to bolster nuclear fuel production and support the development of the next generation of advanced nuclear reactors.

 

The announcement made this week will see £60 million committed to kick start the next phase of research into the new high temperature gas reactor (HTGR), a type of advanced modular reactor (AMR), which could be up and running by the early 2030s. The funding, from the Advanced Modular Reactor R&D programme, aims to get a demonstration project of the engineering design up and running by the end of the decade.

 

Energy and climate minister Graham Stuart said: “This funding package will strengthen our energy security, by ensuring we have a safe and secure supply of domestic nuclear fuel services – while also creating more UK jobs and export opportunities.”