1. SMRs: a Research and Innovation Perspective
Nuclear South West Lunchtime Briefing: Small Modular Reactors
30th November 2016
Jamie Townes, Industrial Engagement
Thank Jessica and the team at NSW.
Not an exclusive focus on SMRs
Outline of the activities and plans for the region (that Bristol is leading) on nuclear research and (particularly) innovation.
Relevant to both SMRs and large reactors, but may be of particular interest to companies in the room.

2. Formed in 2011 Nuclear Futures 20-50 Years Applied Advanced Research
Directors
Dr Tom Scott
Bristol
Prof Chris Grovenor
Oxford
Advanced Research
10-20 Years
Applied
Research
Up to 10 Years
Nuclear
Futures
20-50 Years
Nuclear Futures:
Policy
Finance
Energy Portfolio
Bristol has been undertaking nuclear energy related research for many decades (Early days of deploying nuclear reactors - to EDF Energy PLEX and Magnox D&D)
To recognise and grow this large and varied nuclear portfolio, formed a joint research centre with Oxford in 2011 (NRC – joins fission and fusion)
Research is varied, from the immediate (PLEX, Sellafield Decomm and WM) to the future looking (Energy for smart cities, generation 4).
SMRs fit somewhere in between, but cover a very wide range of technology (development of current technology, through to very advanced designs with pellet fuels and high temperature gas)
Problem Oriented Research:
Lifetime Extension
Safety Systems
Plant Monitoring
Underlying Research:
Materials
Computer Systems
Engineering Design

3. Current Team and Portfolio
Resident experience ~45 academics
Combined Portfolio ~£20M
Total number of researchers ~90
Portfolio includes: EPSRC, EU and industrial funding, with new joint projects developed since launch
Highlight the size and scope of nuclear energy related research:
Covers the whole life-cycle/fuel-cycle

4. Strategic Need for a Nuclear Hub
Government: Nuclear Industrial Strategy
“joined up approach to nuclear R&D across government, industry and academia”
“research base is underpinned by world-leading facilities which are fully utilised by both national and international customers”.
Industry Demand
“the Hub, housing both members of academia and industry, facilitating cross-fertilisation of ideas, will deliver results with the highest industrial impact”
“the provision of new Nuclear Masters and PhD courses partnered with industry will provide a much needed contribution towards providing a solution to the aging UK nuclear workforce”.
Identified we need to go beyond a virtual research collaboration in order to deliver the scale of nuclear R&D required.
Partly from Government
Partly from Industry

5. HEFCE Catalyst Fund Award
Hub Objectives:
Establish a research and education Hub
Integrate industrial participation with the Hub’s research and teaching
Expand nuclear energy related research activity
Provide a Hub for nuclear energy related higher education, housing a cohort of nuclear students (MSc and PhD)
Cover very quickly!
Catalyst fund award ~£5m to create this Hub
Link to government bodies to engage with and influence the nuclear R&D strategy
Link to major industrial companies in the UK and overseas, particularly the operators and technology vendors

6. Nuclear Research Challenges Bristol Research Themes Nuclear New Build
Risks & Resilience
Bristol
Nuclear Research
Waste & Fuel Management
Monitoring Technologies & Robotics
Systems Reliability
Materials & Structural Performance
Nuclear
New Build
Existing Nuclear
Research at Bristol is arranged into a number of themes (examples)
Delivered by PEOPLE using FACILITIES.
These are applicable across the reactor lifecycle and not technology specific, therefore apply equally to SMRs.
SMRs make some of these questions more important or challenging to address (e.g. soil-structure interaction for underground structures, human factors for multiple cores, proving inherent safety for the large claims made)
Decommissioning

7. Future Facilities Spend most of the time on this slide!
Next phase of the R&D strategy for the SW Nuclear Hub – two sites
[Focus: pure science and advanced analytical capability] Expansion of capacity at the University site, the first research and teaching space dedicated to nuclear energy.
[Focus: innovation] ‘Innovation Factory’ at a more accessible location, industrially led research, engagement with SMEs and the supply chain, fed by latest science
Large industrial companies engaged, along with the regulator.
Opportunity for companies outside the nuclear sector to engage with nuclear. Small companies with novel technologies or techniques to offer.
Safe space for getting new technologies and techniques over the high bar to entry and into the nuclear sector.
END HERE.

8. Innovation Environment
Bringing together the key partners that can make innovation in the nuclear sector happen. A safe environment to experiement with technologies long before they go near a nuclear licensed site.
Emphasise the importance of brining in the REGULATOR – their role is very different but they can help make sure technologies are capable of being deployed in a nuclear environment by providing steering/guidance at an early stage.

9. Msc Nuclear Science and Engineering
First cohort to graduate in 2016
Hub and MSc is operated out of School of Physics
MSc cohort: 50/50 Science + Engineering;
Projects: industrially focussed, science and engineering academics provide academic supervision
Five Themes
The Nuclear Cycle
Nuclear Reactor Materials and Design
Nuclear Structural Integrity
Nuclear System, Infrastructure, Hazards and Risk
Nuclear Professionalism
Skills – launch of the new MSc in Nuclear Science and Engineering
Created in consultation with industry – resulting in a multidisciplinary approach where students learn about and apply the nuclear safety culture in mixed teams of colleagues from different professional backgrounds.