The University of Liverpool’s VEC are delighted to be part of Project Faith – supporting the development of the next generation of nuclear energy technology, helping to make an impact through our expertise in digital frameworks, advanced simulation and advanced visualisation techniques.
This week, the UK government announced £40 million of funding to unlock thousands of green jobs by developing the next generation of nuclear energy technology.
This is the VEC’s second collaborative nuclear project alongside the established Nuclear Virtual Engineering Capability programme, bringing a different view to our digitalisation techniques within this sector.
Lynn Dwyer, Commercial and Partnership Director, VEC, said:
‘‘We are delighted to have been contracted by Cammel Laird and support the National Nuclear Laboratory in this government initiative.
Our commitment and project outputs best demonstrate the broad capability and expertise of the VEC; bringing together data, digital frameworks, advanced simulation and visualisation techniques to help plan, test and visualise different scenarios in a virtual space and then to create a digital twin to support ongoing design, training and development through the project lifecycle.
The nuclear sector is committed to keeping pace with the digital age and becoming more collaborative in nature and within their design processes. This will reap huge productivity and efficiency benefits for the future of nuclear energy production.”
The allocated funding will develop technologies to supply low-carbon heat, hydrogen, and other clean energy for decades to come. Building new, low-carbon industry will support the UK’s clean economic recovery as we move towards net zero emissions by 2050. Part of this funding will support 3 Advanced Modular Reactor (AMR) projects, which are far smaller than traditional nuclear plants and use intense heat generated in nuclear reactions to produce low-carbon electricity. They can be used at remote locations thanks to their size, and can produce enough energy to power anything from a small village to a medium-sized city.
Recent research has shown that the UK’s entire nuclear industry could contribute £9.6 billion per annum to the economy and support 130,000 jobs by 2050, as well as creating significant export potential for AMR technology. AMRs also provide the possibility to diversify the UK’s low-carbon energy mix by producing heat for industry and zero-carbon hydrogen, and have already demonstrated the potential to stimulate private investment.
A significant part of the UK’s nuclear research takes place in a belt running from Cumbria to North Wales – a region that could be set to benefit from the nuclear industry’s enormous potential for job creation, in part thanks to this investment.
Original article and funding allocation details here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/40-million-to-kick-start-next-gen-nuclear-technology
