EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Nuclear Energy Futures

Lead Research Organisation: Imperial College London
Department Name: Materials

Abstract

The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Nuclear Energy Futures aims to train a new generation of international leaders, at PhD level, in nuclear energy technology. It is made up of Imperial College London (lead), Bristol University, Cambridge University, Open University and Bangor University. These institutions are some of the UK's leading institutions for research and teaching in nuclear power. The CDTs key focus is around nuclear fission i.e. that is the method of producing energy by splitting the atom, which currently accounts for 11% of the world's electricity and 20% of the UK's electricity, whilst producing very low levels of carbon emissions (at levels the same as renewable energy, such as wind). The CDT whilst focused on fission energy technologies will also have PhD projects related to fusion nuclear energy and projects needed or related to nuclear energy such as seismic studies, robotics, data analytics, environmental studies, policy and law. The CDT's major focus is related to the New Nuclear Build activities at Hinkley Point, Somerset and the Anglesey site in north Wales, where EDF Energy and Horizon, respectively, are building new fission power plants that will produce around 3.2 and 2.7 GWe of nuclear power (about 13% of the UK current electricity demand). The CDT will provide the skills needed for research related to these plants and potential future industry leaders, for nuclear decommissioning of current plants (due to come off-line in the next decade) and to lead the UK in new and innovative technologies for nuclear waste disposal and new reactor technologies such as small modular reactors (SMRs). The need for new talented PhD level people is very high as many of the UK's current technical experts were recruited in the 1970s and 80s and many are near retirement and skills sector studies have shown many more are needed for the new build projects. The CDT will champion teaching innovation and will produce a series of bespoke courses that can be delivered via on-line media by the very best experts in the field from across the CDT covering areas such as the nuclear fuel cycle; waste and decommissioning; small modular reactors; policy, economics and regulation; thermal hydraulics and reactor physics as well as leading on responsible research and innovation in the sector. The CDT is supported by a wide range of nuclear companies and stakeholders. These include those involved in the new build process in the UK such as EDF Energy, Hitachi-GE, Horizon and Rolls-Royce, the latter of which are developing a UK advanced modular reactor design. International nuclear stakeholders from countries such as the USA, UAE, Australia and France will support the student development and the CDT programme. The students in the CDT will cover a very broad training in all aspects of nuclear power and importantly for this sector will engage in both media training activities and public outreach to make nuclear power more open to the public, government and scientists and engineers outside of the discipline.

Planned Impact

It cannot be overstated how important reducing CO2 emissions are in both electricity production for homes and industry but also in reducing road pollution by replacing petrol/diesel cars with electric cars in the next 20 years. These ambitions will require a large growth in electricity production from low carbon sources that are both reliable and secure and must include nuclear power in this energy mix. Such a future will empower the vision of a prosperous, secure nation with clean energy. To do this the UK needs more than 100 PhD level people per year to enter the nuclear industry. This CDT will impact this vision by producing 70, or more, both highly and broadly trained scientists and engineers, in nuclear power technologies, capable of leading the UK new build and decommissioning programmes for future decades. These students will have experience of international nuclear facilities e.g. ANSTO, ICN Pitesti, Oak Ridge, Mol, as well as a UK wide perspective that covers aspects of nuclear from its history, economics, policy, safety and regulation together with the technical understanding of reactor physics, thermal hydraulics, materials, fuel cycle, waste and decommissioning and new reactor designs. These individuals will have the skill set to lead the industry forward and make the UK competitive in a global new build market worth an estimated £1.2tn. Equally important is reducing the costs of future UK projects e.g. Wylfa, Sizewell C by 30%, to allow the industry and new build programme to grow, which will be worth £75bn domestically and employ tens of thousands per project.

We will deliver a series of bespoke training courses, including on-line e-learning courses, in Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Waste and Decommissioning; Policy and Regulation; Nuclear Safety Management; Materials for Reactor Systems, Innovation in Nuclear Technology; Reactor Operation and Design and Responsible Research. These courses can be used more widely than just the CDT educating students in other CDTs with a need for nuclear skills, other university courses related to nuclear energy and possibly for industry as continual professional development courses and will impact the proposed Level 8 Apprenticeship schemes the nuclear industry are pursuing to fill the high level skills gap.

The CDT will deliver world-class research in a broad field of nuclear disciplines and disseminate this work through outreach to the public and media, international conferences, published journal articles and conference proceedings. It will produce patents where appropriate and deliver impact through start-up companies, aided by Imperial Innovations, who have a track record of turning research ideas into real solutions. By working and listening to industry, and through the close relationships supervisory staff have with industrial counterparts, we can deliver projects that directly impact on the business of the sponsors and their research strategies. There is already a track record of this in the current CDT in both fission and fusion fields. For example there is a student (Richard Pearson) helping Tokamak Energy engage with new technologies as part of his PhD in the ICO CDT and as a result Tokamak Energy are offering the new CDT up to 5 studentships.

Another impact we expect is an increasing number of female students in the CDT who will impact the industry as future leaders to help the nuclear sector reach its target of 40% by 2030.
The last major impact of the CDT will be in its broadening scope from the previous CDT. The nuclear industry needs to embrace innovation in areas such as big data analytics and robotics to help it meet its cost reduction targets and the CDT will help the industry engage with these areas e.g. through the Bristol robotics hub or Big Data Institute at Imperial.

All this will be delivered at a remarkable value to both government and the industry with direct funding from industry matching the levels of investment from EPSRC.

Publications

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Studentship Projects

Project Reference Relationship Related To Start End Student Name
EP/S023844/1 31/03/2019 29/09/2027
2279197 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2019 29/09/2023 Gareth Stephens
2290211 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2019 15/04/2022 Todd Freeman
2296238 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2019 20/12/2023 Kenechukwu Nwegbu
2296101 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2019 29/09/2023 James Hargreaves
2296118 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2019 31/12/2023 Edmund Jones
2296004 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2019 31/12/2023 Aaron Chote
2295991 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2019 31/12/2023 Tristan Calvet
2296091 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2019 29/09/2023 Todd Freeman
2299635 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2019 29/09/2023 Fabio Martini
2296231 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2019 29/09/2023 Christopher Morris
2296297 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2019 11/06/2022 Cameron Sanderson
2295940 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2019 29/09/2023 Dominic Brennan
2295449 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2019 31/12/2023 Mercedes Baxter Chinery
2296164 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2019 29/09/2023 Joshua Langcaster
2299617 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2019 29/09/2023 Tan Zi Liang
2296014 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2019 31/12/2023 James Davidson
2272188 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2019 29/09/2023 Jack Wilson
2461946 Studentship EP/S023844/1 29/09/2020 29/09/2024 Oliver Conway
2461892 Studentship EP/S023844/1 29/09/2020 29/09/2024 Angelo Battistini
2462417 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2020 29/09/2024 Nathan Ravoisin
2431938 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2020 29/09/2024 Corey Bevan
2462238 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2020 29/09/2024 Aidan Gunn
2462269 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2020 29/09/2027 Feena Arey
2462346 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2020 29/09/2024 Philip Smith
2463171 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2020 29/09/2024 Mustafa Bolukbasi
2462915 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2020 29/09/2024 Eduardo Cuoc
2461991 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2020 29/09/2024 Thomas Griffiths
2462182 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2020 29/09/2024 Jack Trainor
2462023 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2020 29/09/2024 Cameron Macdonald
2462252 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2020 29/09/2024 Christopher Allen
2462009 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2020 29/09/2024 Daniel Long
2462086 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2020 29/09/2024 Joseph Pollard
2448647 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2020 29/09/2024 Eduardo Cuoc
2462334 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2020 29/09/2024 Florence Legg
2462093 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2020 29/09/2024 Ryan Stroud
2462437 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2020 29/09/2024 Raifa Al Maamari
2462387 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2020 30/03/2028 Rosie Warren
2606678 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Mahin Choudhary
2621763 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Mahin Choudhary
2622140 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Eleanor White
2608121 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2024 Thomas Ross
2622081 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 George Spencer
2621984 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Mohammed Nuhu
2621996 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Harvey Plows
2622073 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Michael Salvini
2621682 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Thomas Budd
2621911 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Susannah Lea
2606920 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 30/11/2025 Nuhu Muhammed
2621839 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Alex Drake
2621778 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Hugh Dorward
2621999 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Alice Robinson
2603185 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Conor Buchanan
2621673 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Gorataone Batsile
2621677 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Conor Buchanan
2621975 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Simon McKendrey
2621920 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Maciej Makuch
2622146 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Ethan Wong
2622133 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Sarah Vallely
2621753 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Patrick Carter-Cortez
2621633 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Stamatina Alexandropoulou
2622056 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Thomas Ross
2603127 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Harvey Plows
2621769 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2021 29/09/2025 Alejandra De Lara
2764922 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 Ewan Woodbridge
2764862 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 William Thomas
2764855 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 Bryan Tan
2764448 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 Euan Allatt
2764911 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 William Watson
2764488 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 Daniel Cogbill
2764612 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 Alexandre Lhoest
2764663 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 Ben Sargeant
2764597 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 Parth Kulkarni
2764533 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 Luis Fernandes
2764904 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 Hannah Tipping
2764545 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 Martin Gillet
2764503 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 Jamie Edwards
2764552 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 Alfred Hewetson
2739878 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 Parth Kulkarni
2764907 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 Sannah van Balen
2764435 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 Thomas Ashton-Key
2743087 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2028 Stuart Dunn
2764562 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2029 Siobhan Kingsley
2764607 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 Jason Lee
2764480 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 Harrison Brown
2764499 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2029 Stuart Dunn
2764619 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2022 29/09/2026 Alex Little
2891480 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Albert Dellor
2892475 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Wan Wan
2891950 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Daniel Beer
2885555 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Moli Smith
2891488 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Moli Smith
2889646 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Lucy Bland
2883610 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Albert Dellor
2891954 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Ciaran Jones
2892462 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Udeme Inyang-udoh
2892459 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Archana Prasad
2889660 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Martin Skretteberg
2889656 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Rufus Neame
2891946 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Charles Adams
2891936 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Chi Hang Kwok
2889639 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Henry Bennett
2895001 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2026 Wenrui Shao
2892451 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Keyi Pei
2891486 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Wenrui Shao
2891943 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Lantian Pinkney
2896469 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Delisa Mamba
2889672 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Alex Comyn
2889665 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Rohan Teelock Gaya
2891964 Studentship EP/S023844/1 30/09/2023 29/09/2027 Karim Bakkar
2899515 Studentship EP/S023844/1 01/12/2023 30/11/2027 Sally Njogu