The UK has not completed a new, full-scale nuclear power plant since Sizewell B in Suffolk was connected to the grid in 1995. And Hinkley C is not due online until 2030. But, somehow, the UK nuclear energy industry still has a supply chain.

Imagine, for a second, if aerospace giants didn’t manufacture a single aircraft in 30 years. Would they still have a supply chain? 

Whilst smaller, the nuclear supply chain has been aided by the extension of nuclear power plants past their intended use by date. Without these extensions, the UK supply chain would have faced a catastrophic skills and capability cliff edge. Instead, keeping these plants running has stabilised and boosted the sector, helping preserve valuable skills that will be critical as the UK seeks to re-build its nuclear capability. The extensions have kept the financial and human infrastructure of the British nuclear industry alive and ready to deploy the multi-billion-pound nuclear renaissance currently underway.

Cross-sector resilience

Whilst new nuclear has been historically quiet until now, energy production has grown from imported gas, biomass and wind, with steady demand for components like turbines, turbo machinery, valves and pumps. This means complementary sectors like petrochemicals, construction, defence and aerospace have also boosted the sector's resilience.

In the meantime, the UK has built up a substantial decommissioning capability, widely considered to be one of the most mature, highly-skilled and commercially healthy in the world.

Now, a year on from the launch of the UK government’s Modern Industrial Strategy, talk has turned to action. We’ve seen the contract announcement of three Rolls-Royce small modular reactors (SMR) at Wylfa, with the site surveyed to hold up to eight units in the future.

SMR manufacturing and commercial joint ventures

Sizewell C has been given the greenlight, with major private equity funding structures finalised, including Centrica taking a 15 per cent stake. A major commercial joint venture between X-Energy and Centrica was announced in Hartlepool to deploy a 12-unit fleet of 80 megawatt Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled reactors at the existing Hartlepool nuclear site, aiming to provide both electricity and high-temperature industrial heat by the mid-2030s.

At the AMRC, we’re getting the wider industry supply chain ready. Whether it’s our work supporting the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to to help shape future of nuclear standards, where nuclear leaders at the AMRC were instrumental in forming the UK committee in 2015, or our work on the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult’s technology strategy, where our own Professor Steve Jones is leading on the centres’ joining engineering capability roadmap.

Commercial opportunities in the nuclear energy sector are becoming very real. Contract announcements from Rolls-Royce SMR are live. As they move towards delivery, Rolls-Royce SMR will use “the breadth of the UK supply chain, which is able to contribute more than 80 per cent of each SMR by value – focusing on standardised, commercially available and off-the-shelf components.”

Preparing for the fusion energy challenge

Fusion energy – which is the very energy that powers the stars – is attracting serious attention and investment with the UK’s first grid-connected fusion power plant, Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP), to be constructed at the former coal-fired West Burton Power Station, and private-backed ventures from across the globe gathering momentum.

Moving beyond fundamental research to a fully operational fusion demonstrator by 2040 is an enormous challenge. It requires materials and processes to move from the laboratory to at-scale manufacturing. This brings opportunity – for new entrants, university spin-outs and established players – across high temperature materials, superconducting magnets and remote handling, to name a few. It cannot be done without them.

Whether fusion or fission, the opportunity is there, from initial construction, through to component manufacturers, pipework installers, plasma physicists and plant operators. The challenge for the UK is meeting demand.

Bridging the nuclear skills gap

Skills are in short supply, and the planned infrastructure commitments for the UK, detailed in the NISTA infrastructure pipeline, totals £725 billion over the next ten years, with nuclear and fusion spending accounting for between ten and 12 per cent. This at-scale investment is driving more off-site manufactured solutions and innovation, such as modular assemblies and 3D printed concrete foundations, just to meet the timescale.

The UK can only capitalise if it invests in both its manufacturing capabilities, and personnel capacities. For that, we need a pipeline of talent to power future workforces.

Where we have the skills in other sectors, we need to open the doors to transferability. What nuclear needs isn’t just specialists. It needs fabricators and technicians so the skills pipeline can begin to form itself.

At the University of Sheffield AMRC Training Centre, we’re training the next generation of advanced manufacturing, making sure they’re ready to make an impact in industry from the moment they graduate. If it’s time to upskill your talent pool, or recruit a new apprentice, get in touch with the team.

When the demand comes, companies will have to invest; industry needs to be ready. At the AMRC, we’re ready – are you?