The National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) is a U.K. government owned and operated nuclear fission services technology provider covering the whole nuclear fuel cycle. They have just launched their strategic plan which they call “This is NNL”. They are working towards legally binding targets in the U.K. to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. More than one hundred and twenty other countries are working towards the same goal.
The NNL will focus on four strategic areas of national importance:
1. Clean Energy – “A thriving nuclear power sector is an essential component of the UK’s path to net zero.”
2. Environmental Restoration – “For 65 years, the UK's nuclear power stations have generated electricity, successfully providing nearly a fifth of its current overall power needs and two-fifths of its clean electricity.”
3. Health and Nuclear Medicine - “Each year, thousands of National Health Service patients benefit from the advances of nuclear medicine in their treatment.”
4. Security and Non-proliferation - “It is clear that nuclear science holds the keys to advancing many areas of our lives and can help governments and industry to create a better planet for us all.”
In attacking these four areas, NNL says that it will also be supporting the creation of high-skilled, high-paid jobs predominantly in the North West of England because all four of the national laboratories involved in NNL are located in that area.
Paul Howarth is the NNL Chief Executive Officer. He said, “Without nuclear, the UK will not meet this target on time. And without NNL's work, the UK nuclear sector cannot deliver what is required. Whether it is accelerating a UK demonstration program for Advanced Modular Reactors or delivering our first indigenous supply of medical radioisotopes since the 1960s, NNL will be at the forefront of game-changing advances that will help to transform the environment and people’s lives, now and into the future.”
The published materials on “This is NNL” includes an interview with Fiona Rayment who is the Chief Science and Technology Officer of NNL. She said, “Our Focus Areas make perfect sense because they all have three qualities in common: they are all greatly needed by the UK, they are all areas we are working on now, and they all are areas where we have the capability - by which I mean the infrastructure and skills - to expand and work with the whole of the nuclear sector to successfully contribute.”
Rayment also said, “Collaboration is key in the nuclear sector, because no single area of expertise resides in just one organization. We would like to be in a situation where we operate a user facility for our infrastructure, so that academia, other national labs and the entirety of the supply chain can all access it. It will be the nuclear industry that goes on to sell and utilize reactor technology but our role is to underpin what the technology does, so that it can be successfully deployed within the commercial marketplace.”
Anne-Marie Trevelyan is the Energy Minister of the U.K. In the same publication, she says that new and advanced nuclear technologies are key parts of the government’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution because they believe that nuclear power provides a reliable source of low-carbon electricity. “The National Nuclear Laboratory is at the forefront of pioneering innovation and remains a world leader in nuclear research and development. I am delighted that NNL is playing a critical role in developing next-generation nuclear fuels and fuel cycles, helping us build back greener and eliminating the UK’s contribution to climate change.”