Memorandum 98
Submission from Research Councils UK (RCUK)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Research Councils work together in energy
through the Energy Programme, which brings together all facets
of energy research and training across the Councils in a comprehensive,
multi-disciplinary programme which includes nuclear power and
fusion.
Through the Energy Programme the Councils have
actively encouraged and invested in research and trained people
in nuclear engineering and related disciplines in order to help
keep the nuclear power option open. This followed the Government
policy set out in the 2003 Government Energy White Paper. Funding
for fission related research and training has increased and begun
to reverse the downward trend in university based fission related
research and training over the past 10-15 years. The Councils
also provide support for the UK Fusion Programme.
Research Council funded activities underway
in nuclear engineering include consortia in "Keeping the
Nuclear Option Open" and "Sustainability Aspects of
Nuclear Power". Two training centres have been supported-an
Engineering Doctorate Centre and a Masters level and continuing
professional development training centre. Other research capacity
building projects have also been supported.
EPSRC, the Ministry of Defence, the Atomic Weapons
Establishment, British Nuclear Fuels plc (now Nexia Solutions)
and British Energy plc work together under a formal agreement
in areas of common interest in research and training to sustain
critical nuclear related capabilities. Future developments are
discussed and areas highlighted for Research Council activity,
addressing stakeholder need. The Health and Safety Executive and
the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority are expected to formally
sign soon. As a result of this activity proposals are currently
being considered for a consortium in nuclear waste management
and decommissioning, and the Engineering Doctorate training Centre
has been established.
In addition to their actively encouraged activities
the Councils support some projects through their responsive mode
schemes. In particular the Councils fund a wide range of fundamental
research and training which may eventually have longer term applications
in nuclear engineering.
Current grants of relevance to nuclear engineering
(including fusion) led by EPSRC total £72 million.
INTRODUCTION
1. Research Councils UK is a strategic partnership
set up to champion the research supported by the seven UK Research
Councils. RCUK was established in 2002 to enable the Councils
to work together more effectively to enhance the overall impact
and effectiveness of their research, training and innovation activities,
contributing to the delivery of the Government's objectives for
science and innovation. Further details are available at .www.rcuk.ac.uk.
2. This evidence is submitted by RCUK on
behalf of all Research Councils and represents their independent
views. It does not include or necessarily reflect the views of
the Science and Innovation Group in the Department for Innovation,
Universities and Skills. The submission is made on behalf of the
following Councils:
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research
Council (BBSRC)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
(EPSRC)-Annex A
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
3. All Research Councils have contributed
to the main text of this response; some Councils have provided
additional specific information about their research in separate
Annexes, as detailed above.
4. In this response nuclear engineering
is taken to cover the branch of engineering concerned with the
design and construction and operation of nuclear reactors. Fusion
is included in this response.
RCUK OVERVIEW
5. The Research Councils recognise the importance
of conducting technology-based research in the context of a thorough
understanding of markets, consumer demand, environmental impacts
and public acceptability. Within this context, cross-Council initiatives,
in collaboration with stakeholders, play a crucial role. NERC,
EPSRC and ESRC received additional funding in the 2002 Spending
Review to launch the "Towards a Sustainable Energy Economy"
Programme. This Programme was designed to adopt a multidisciplinary,
whole systems approach to energy research, including nuclear power.
6. In April 2005 the Research Councils established
a new Energy Programme, led by EPSRC, in partnership with BBSRC,
ESRC, NERC and STFC. The Energy Programme brings together all
facets of energy research and training across the Research Councils
in a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary programme which includes
nuclear power and fusion. The total investment in energy research
has increased to approximately £90 million per annum by 2007-08.
Much of the increased expenditure was in the engineering and technology
research areas supported by EPSRC, but also encompassed the range
of energy research issues including social, economic, environmental
and biological contributions that were developed in conjunction
with other Research Councils.
7. The Energy Programme will be investing
a further £334 million over the CSR period (2008-11) in:
- Work to realise the potential of Energy
Technologies Institute (ETI) for a step-change in energy research,
development & demonstration in the UK and internationally.
- Ensuring the Research Councils' Energy
Programme plays a key part of the UK energy innovation landscape.
The aims are to support a full spectrum of energy research meeting
the government's long term policy goals, to work in partnership
to meet the research and postgraduate training needs of business,
to develop research capacity, and to increase the level and impact
of international collaboration.
- Increase support for research in demand-reduction
and transport, whilst maintaining research in power generation.
- Support for the fusion programme at Culham,
using the internationally leading facility, Joint European Torus
(JET).
8. As detailed above the Energy Programme
is intended to support a full spectrum of energy research, and
so activities in nuclear power have been actively encouraged:
further details on these activities are given below. The Councils
work closely with the Technology Strategy Board, ETI and other
stakeholders. In addition to support through the Energy Programme
the Councils support some projects through their responsive mode
schemes. In particular the Councils fund a wide range of fundamental
research and training which may eventually have longer term applications
in nuclear engineering.
The UK's engineering capacity to build a new generation
of nuclear power stations and carry out planned decommissioning
of existing nuclear power stations
9. Through the Towards a Sustainable Energy
Programme and the more recent Energy Programme the Councils have
actively encouraged and invested in research and trained people
that will help keep the nuclear option open. This followed the
Government policy set out in the 2003 Government Energy White
Paper. New commitments in fission related research and training
have begun to reverse the downward trend in university based fission
related research and training over the past 10-15 years. The Councils
also support fusion research, based at Culham. Further details
of these activities are given below.
10. Current grants of relevance to nuclear
engineering (including fusion) led by EPSRC total £72 million.
This has risen substantially recently due to the Councils taking
on responsibility for the UK Fusion Programme and the new activities
detailed below designed to maintain nuclear energy as an option.
11. EPSRC has taken the lead in enabling
the establishment of the £6 million "Keeping the Nuclear
Option Open" (KNOO) initiative, scoped in collaboration with
Government and industry stakeholders. The KNOO consortium, led
by Imperial College and involving six other universities, commenced
work in October 2005 and is due to run for four years. KNOO is
addressing issues such as fuel cycles and fuel management, future
reactor systems including Gen IV technologies, waste management,
storage and decommissioning and extending existing plant lifetime
through materials science and technology. BNFL made an additional
input of £0.5 million. Other key stakeholders include AWE,
BNFL, British Energy, Defra, the Environment Agency, the Health
and Safety Executive, DTI, Mitsui Babcock, MoD, Nirex, NNC, Rolls-Royce
PLC, and UKAEA.
12. A Letter of Arrangement (LoA) has been
agreed between EPSRC, the Ministry of Defence, the Atomic Weapons
Establishment, British Nuclear Fuels plc (now Nexia Solutions)
and British Energy PLC. Partners in this group work together in
areas of common interest and collaborative working in research
and training to sustain critical nuclear related capabilities.
The partners meet regularly through the LoA Advisory Board which
also includes members from the Health and Safety Executive and
the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority who are expected to formally
sign soon. At the meetings future developments are discussed and
areas highlighted for Research Council activity, addressing stakeholder
need. The first activity under this LoA was to establish a Nuclear
Engineering Doctorate Centre (see paragraph 17).
13. The second activity under the LoA has
been a call for multidisciplinary, multi-institutional consortia
to carry out underpinning science and engineering to tackle existing
and future nuclear waste management challenges. Sustainable nuclear
waste management solutions are one of the corner stones of the
industry, and are one of the key areas that the UK is focusing
its research efforts. Whilst much effort has been made to encourage
the strength of the UK research base it was felt that more could
be done to foster new ideas and links across the various disciplines
relevant to nuclear waste management and also to increase research
capacity in nuclear waste management in the UK. Hence consortia
bids were invited to target some key issues now facing the industry
and solutions that could be appropriate for the future. Stakeholder
involvement in these bids is mandatory. Proposals are currently
under review and £4 million is available to fund the successful
proposal(s).
14. On waste management, NERC's British
Geological Survey (BGS) maintains expertise relevant to providing
advice on the location of burial sites according to geological
conditions. Also relevant to environmental considerations, NERC
funds, jointly with the European Commission, the UKAS[32]-accredited
radioecology labs at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH)
Lancaster. The Science Budget expenditure of approximately £200k
(in 2007-08) supports the laboratory and underpinning science
on the transfer of radionuclides to man and wildlife. As plans
are considered for a new generation of nuclear reactors, NERC's
capability in climate change prediction, in particular its impact
on sea levels, could help to inform decisions regarding the sites
of new plants.
15. There is synergy between nuclear engineering
and fusion research in specific areas. EPSRC provides support
for the UK Fusion Programme, the Joint European Torus (JET) facility
and the UK contribution to diagnostic systems for the international
fusion programme centred around ITER based in Caderache, France.
Fusion is the energy-releasing process that powers the sun and
other stars. If it can be harnessed economically on earth it would
be an essentially limitless source of safe, environmentally responsible
energy. The most promising method uses strong magnetic fields
in a "tokamak" configuration to allow a high temperature
deuterium-tritium plasma to be generated while minimising contact
with the surrounding material surfaces. In the UK Fusion Programme
a strong theory and modelling group supports the experimental
programmes and contributes to the research and development of
fusion materials (which have similar issues to materials in the
nuclear industry) and to studies of conceptual fusion power stations
(which have relevance to nuclear power plants). Remote handling
technology and decommissioning are also relevant to both nuclear
engineering and fusion. The skills and expertise of the scientists
and engineers working on fusion may also have relevance to nuclear
engineering. Support in this activity has recently been reviewed
and for the next phase the Programme will receive £47 million
over two years from 1 April 2008.
16. In the longer-term STFC is seeking to
investigate the possibility of building HiPER, a high-power laser
designed to demonstrate practical energy generation from nuclear
fusion via the advent of a revolutionary laser driven technique
known as fast ignition. The UK is leading on this long-term European
science project and STFC is pursuing the opportunity for the facility
to be built in the UK.
17. In addition to this targeted support,
focused on the nuclear energy option and including research capacity
building the Councils support a very wide range of fundamental
research which could have longer term applications in nuclear
engineering. Examples include plasma physics, radiation chemistry,
and structural materials. Some projects are also supported through
the responsive mode schemes of the Councils.
18. The Research Councils believe that this
increased support for fission together with fusion programmes
such as ITER and future science projects such as HiPER have the
potential to attract many young people into a career in nuclear
engineering.
The value in training a new generation of nuclear
engineers versus bringing expertise in from elsewhere
19. Similar to activities in the research
area (which also increase the capacity of trained manpower) the
Councils have actively encouraged and supported training and research
capacity activities in nuclear energy to ensure that they were
providing trained manpower to keep the nuclear option open and
help ensure security of supply. Consultation with the nuclear
industry and key Government stakeholders demonstrated that provision
of postgraduate nuclear skills training is a critical issue.
20. The first activity taken forward under
the Letter of Arrangement was the establishment of an Engineering
Doctorate Centre in nuclear engineering. The Engineering Doctorate
is a four year, industrially relevant doctoral training programme
which offers a radical alternative to the PhD, geared to training
research managers of the future. The Nuclear Engineering Centre
is a partnership between the University of Manchester and Imperial
College London with participation from four additional universities.
Ten students are recruited each year, with this Centre taking
students from October 2006.
21. The Nuclear Technology Education Consortium
(NTEC), a collaborative training account to provide masters level
and continuing professional development training in nuclear energy
related skills has been funded with £1 million from EPSRC
and £1.6 million from various stakeholders such as Government
bodies (NDA, MoD, Cogent), regulators (HSE/NII) and leading industrial
employers (BNFL (including Nexia Solutions, Energy Unit, British
Nuclear Group), UKAEA, AWE, Rolls-Royce Naval Marine, Serco, British
Energy, Nirex, NIS, NNC, NPL, Mitsui Babcock, Atkins Nuclear,
INucE and BNES). NTEC includes eleven universities and will cover
decommissioning and clean-up, reactor technology and fuel cycles,
environment and safety, policy and regulation, project management,
fusion and medical use.
22. Other capacity building activities have
included the support, in partnership with industrial sponsors,
of new research Chairs at the University of Manchester in decommissioning
engineering and radiation chemistry. A Science and Innovation
Award to the University of Strathclyde has included support to
enhance their academic capacity in nuclear engineering.
23. Current support for students and research
assistants has risen with the above initiatives both through training
awards and research projects. There are currently 59 studentships
and 80 research assistant posts supported under research projects
relevant to nuclear engineering, over and above the support at
the training centres detailed above.
24. Although STFC does not directly support
training of nuclear engineers STFC does support fundamental research
which underpins the skills required for nuclear engineering. At
present STFC supports nine UK institutions with active programmes
in experimental nuclear physics and two in theoretical nuclear
physics-the fundamental study of how the nucleus of an atom works.
This academic expertise in the underlying physics of the nucleus
is needed in order to provide training on undergraduate and graduate
courses in the applications of nuclear physics-including nuclear
engineering, reactor physics, radiation protection, radiation
detection and nuclear medicine. Training in these areas will be
a vital element of any future nuclear industry. STFC invests around
£8m per annum on nuclear physics research and supports approximately
20 PhD studentships in nuclear physics per annum.
The role that engineers will play in shaping the
UK's nuclear future and whether nuclear power proves to be economical
viable
25. The Councils support an amount of research
that considers the economic viability of nuclear power and its
relationship to other potential power sources and demand reduction
options. The UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC), supported under
Towards a Sustainable Energy Economy, provides a holistic focus
for energy research in the UK and for collaborative international
energy research. UKERC's research is organised around six themes
that address clearly defined problems and areas within the energy
sector, and nuclear power appears within these as appropriate.
Three themes reflect the structure of energy markets: demand reduction,
future sources of energy, and energy infrastructure and supply.
The three remaining themes are cross-cutting: energy systems and
modelling, environmental sustainability, and materials for advanced
energy systems. Other activities include research road-mapping
activity to inform funding decisions, technology and policy assessment,
an interdisciplinary doctoral training programme, and a research
portal which maps out the UK energy research landscape.
26. A consortium (Sustainability Assessment
of Nuclear Power) led by the University of Manchester carries
out research targeted at the societal aspects of nuclear energy.
The overall aim of the project is to develop an integrated decision-support
framework for assessing the sustainability of nuclear power taking
into account relevant technical, economic, environmental, social
and governance-related criteria as well as the associated uncertainties.
The decision-support framework will enable sustainability comparisons
of nuclear power relative to other energy options (fossil fuels
and renewables), considering both energy supply and demand. The
project began in September 2007, involving four universities with
a grant of £2.1 million. The consortium has close links with
KNOO.
27. The Sussex Energy Group, supported under
Towards a Sustainable Energy Economy, is considering the governance
of nuclear power. Their research compares nuclear power and other
investment options. They are surveying relevant actors in the
area, such as financial institutions, industry sources and environmental
organisations. A significant element of their work involves an
international comparison of economic and institutional contexts
in the UK with another country that has made a clear decision
to build a new reactor.
The overlap between nuclear engineers in the power
sector and the military
28. We consider it more appropriate for
companies and the military sector to provide input on this point.
29. Partners under the Letter of Arrangement
include the Ministry of Defence and the Atomic Weapons Establishment.
30. There is currently one project relevant
to nuclear engineering supported under the joint Research Council
and Ministry of Defence Joint Grants Scheme.
March 2008
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