Inside the Yorkshire research centre powering the nation's nuclear ambitions

But one place central to turning those aspirations into reality is the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) in South Yorkshire, which sits on land which was once part of Orgreave Colliery.

The facility has been used since 2012 as a base for researchers to test and develop millions of pounds worth of manufacturing innovations for the nuclear industry.

It mostly takes place in a giant open-plan workshop with offices on the top floor which overlook the hive of activity taking place below. It is in the offices where The Yorkshire Post is meeting CEO Andrew Storer.

In the earlier part of his career, Storer, originally from Derby, worked his way up through the ranks at Rolls-Royce to become part of their team tasked with setting up a civil nuclear business.

An initial political push in the early 2010s to find sites around the country for new nuclear power stations – a key factor in the initial establishment of the Nuclear AMRC which had Rolls-Royce as its lead industrial partner – ultimately fizzled out, partly as a consequence of concerns about the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan affecting investment decisions.

Storer joined the University of Sheffield-owned Nuclear AMRC in 2015 and was determined to find it a viable future for the centre despite the altered political landscape.

It opened up to the nuclear decommissioning market, as well as defence and fusion reactors. The centre also established a supply chain programme called Fit For Nuclear.

Businesses involved in the programme have gone on to win more than £2bn worth of Government contracts, safeguarding thousands of jobs.

The centre is also part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, a national network of seven specialist industry-focused research centres designed to help turn academic inventions into commercially-viable products.

In early 2022 following meetings with industry figures including Storer, Boris Johnson announced the launch of a new body called Great British Nuclear in a renewed attempt to bring forward projects.

Last week, the Government announced the start of talks with international firms about building a third major new nuclear plant at Wylfa in Anglesey which it is hoped could be similar in scale to also-planned schemes at Sizewell in Suffolk and Hinkley in Somerset. The latter is already under construction but may not open until the early 2030s.

In parallel to the large-scale plans, the UK is also pinning its hopes on what are known as small modular reactors (SMRs) which can be made in factories and involve a cheaper and quicker construction process. It is hoped they could be operational in this country by the mid-2030s.

However, the progress of a competition to select companies to take SMRs forward has already been delayed for months with Rolls-Royce announcing in April it was scaling back its plans as a result of the ongoing uncertainty.

Speaking before last week’s announcement that the General Election will take place on July 4, Storer says the delay is also having a knock-on effect on the Nuclear AMRC.

“Nuclear has a long gestation period with decisions beyond a Parliamentary period. The problem we face with the system is we have is that long-term decision making has to be made for things like defence and nuclear.

"What we are all waiting for is the process GBN is running to run through. There is no way on earth companies are going to place a big chunky contract until the Government has said ‘we will have that many and we will have them there’. It is not about money, it is about decisions. The supply chain will then invest.”

Storer says that while it is possible to turn these projects around relatively quickly, he does feel there would have been more progress to date had Boris Johnson remained in office.

“In France, in China, in America, the process is different. In the 80s, France built 56 reactors in 15 years. It is doable but you have to have decisions made and you have to clear the runway.

“I do think Boris Johnson would have done this. It was partly his team’s idea and he was really up for this. His words were ‘We’re not betting on the Grand National here, we can’t back every horse - we need to make decisions quickly’.

“I think we would be further forward because of the aggression that is needed to cut through the Whitehall system.

“You shouldn’t have to spend your energy fighting the system, the system should support you to get to the endpoint quickly.

“We often talk in the sector about a wartime footing. The Russian invasion of Ukraine jolted everyone. Nuclear became a matter of not just clean energy but energy security. But where we are then?”

Another major challenge for the sector is that of skills – with official estimates that 40,000 new skilled workers are needed by 2030, a 50 per cent increase on the current number currently employed.

Storer says the Nuclear AMRC can play a dual role when it comes to that challenge – both helping to find the workers of the future through establishing apprenticeship schemes with industry but also helping with innovation that speeds up schemes and means not as many new staff are required as is currently estimated.

"If you apply some of this innovation you won’t need as many people making stuff or you can at least make more stuff. You can reduce time to manufacture something from 100 days to a week, a dramatic difference in time.

“Take a waste container for Sellafield - we can show the supply chain you can make it in a dramatically reduced time.

“We wouldn’t put people out of work - we need more people but we need to apply innovation where we can to reduce that demand on the people challenge otherwise we will fail.”

Storer adds there is still some way to go.

“When I joined everything was busy and the place now is not fully occupied and not as busy as it should. I would like to see a facility buzzing with young people with work and that customers have to wait to get in. I think that will happen, I really do.

“It is happening already but at a glacial pace. The opportunity is there for sure.”

A further uncertainty for the centre is whether Catapult funding will continue under the next Government.

Despite the challenges and uncertainties, there are firm hopes that the centre can play a leading role in the nuclear renaissance, along with the a range of other schemes within a stone’s throw of the site.

Storer says South Yorkshire has a “vital” role in the future of the nuclear industry.

"We have got places like Forgemasters, we have two research centres, two universities here and we have got a mayoral combined authority with the appetite and ambition to invest in this region.

“It is a fantastic location. We need Government decisions but regions like this need to start to get ready and think about the role they can play and South Yorkshire and Oliver Coppard’s team are doing that.”