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Collaboration lies at the heart of nuclear

The nuclear industry shares a real commitment to collaborative working. Nuclear South West is no exception, as a partner in the UK Nuclear Regions Collaboration, which was established in 2019, and was due to hold a reception at the postponed Nuclear Week in Parliament earlier this September.

The UK Nuclear Regions Collaboration brings together five of the UK's key nuclear regions to represent a regional voice within national nuclear sector development, transfer knowledge, and promote the capabilities and experience of local supply chains across the country.

The Collaboration is made up of seven business clusters and supply chain organisations from across the UK and continues to expand. Our fellow members include Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster (BECBC), East of England Energy Group, NOF, Northern Nuclear Alliance, North West Nuclear Arc, and Wales Nuclear Forum. You can follow them on LinkedIn with updates from the nuclear sector across the UK.

This month, West Burton, Nottinghamshire, was announced as the chosen site for the first STEP fusion test reactor in the UK. In the spirit of collaboration, we offer our colleagues at West Burton and the UKAEA support with the development of skills, infrastructure, and supply chain capability developing on our experience in the South West of building the first new nuclear reactors in a generation.

The South West has been constructing, operating, and decommissioning nuclear reactors for many decades, an industrial legacy that we are very proud of. We remain busy training and up-skilling the future workforce of the sector utilising the National College for Nuclear and Centres of Excellence in welding, electrical and mechanical engineering which are innovative joint ventures between EDF and Bridgwater & Taunton College. We are also delighted that EDF has achieved its objective of recruiting 1000 apprentices to work on Hinkley Point C (HPC) who are part of the overall 11,000 job opportunities already created on site, with 40% of recruitment coming from the locality. To date EDF, Training Providers, Local Authorities, and the LEP have collectively invested an estimated £119 million in skills, training, innovation, and essential infrastructure within the communities adjacent to the development.

There are still huge supply chain opportunities available at HPC with approximately £375 million in civil contracts  to be procured. With the planned expansion of a nuclear fleet for the UK, we emphasise to developers and UK Government that it makes sense for new nuclear builds to be located where the expertise and infrastructure currently exist.

As part of our collaborative work, we’re delighted to feature Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster (BECBC) in this month’s newsletter:

Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster (BECBC)

Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster (BECBC) is a membership organisation for the clean energy and nuclear decommissioning supply chain based in the north-west of England. With a diverse membership across every tier of the supply chain and over 23 sectors its purpose is to create an environment for members to collaborate and do business which creates value for customers and local communities.

Find out more about BECBC.