United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory

Small can, big impact ⚛️ When we say nuclear energy is powerful, we mean it. This single can shows how much used nuclear fuel you'd need for a lifetime of power - every device you'll charge, every meal you'll cook, keeping your lights on day and night. That's the incredible efficiency of nuclear energy. Thanks to @ziontree for sharing this message far and wide! 🙌 #NuclearScience #FutureEnergy #PoweringBritain

Have you watched our Strategic Plan 2026 launch video yet? Here's your reason to. Filming across UKNNL's nuclear-licensed sites is no small undertaking. Our behind-the-scenes article tells that story, with a look at what it took to bring this plan, and the people behind it, to life. We couldn’t have done it without the patience and expertise of our film partner, Adamedia. Click through for a glimpse behind the camera here: Behind the scenes: uknnl.com/2026/10/behind-the… #NuclearScience #UKNNL #BehindTheScenes

Our four research centres and three professional hubs sit at the heart of UKNNL's Strategic Plan 2026, each with a unique identity reflecting the national science it delivers. Our COO, Wayne Muckley summarised: “There are things this country can only do inside these centres and hubs. Customers come to us for the combination of world-class infrastructure and technical capability, and our plan sets out how we'll keep developing both over the next five years.” Read more about our Strategic Plan: uknnl.com/strategic-plan #NuclearScience #UKNNL #LabOfTheFuture

Our Strategic Plan is built around five Science Missions: Future Energy, Fuel, Fleet Support, Plutonium Science, and Environmental Restoration and Health. Each one responds to a real and growing demand from government and our sector, from securing the fuel that powers the UK's reactors, to helping keep the UK’s current fleet of power stations and the Royal Navy’s submarines running safely, to managing the UK's plutonium inventory. “That’s five clear reasons why our people get up in the morning, and five clear reasons why the UK should be glad they do,” said our Chief Scientific Officer and Deputy CEO Gareth Headdock. Read more about our Science Missions and what they mean for the UK's nuclear future: uknnl.com/strategic-plan #NuclearScience #UKNNL #ScienceMissions

Today, we published UKNNL's Strategic Plan 2026, our roadmap for the next five years. Julianne Antrobus, CEO at UKNNL shared: “We're on the cusp of a golden age of nuclear in this country, and this laboratory is where the science behind that ambition is done. The 2024 Strategic Review confirmed that our capability is world-class, and it asked more of us. This plan is our answer.” 🧑‍🔬 Five Science Missions 🏭 Investment in our people and facilities 🧪 A clear route to the Lab of the Future No strategy delivers itself. It's our people, our 1,300 colleagues, whose expertise and commitment make this laboratory what it is. Watch the video below to hear more, and find the full plan at uknnl.com/strategic-plan #NuclearScience #UKNNL #StrategicPlan2026

What does nuclear innovation look like in practice? It looks like an electric current removing contamination from metal that would otherwise become radioactive waste. It looks like an ultrasound device cleaning nuclear pipework in minutes rather than days. And it looks like recovering valuable medical isotopes from used nuclear fuel. At UKNNL, innovation starts with real operational challenges and focuses on developing practical solutions that deliver measurable impact. From decommissioning to diagnostics, our Innovation team is translating new ideas into lasting value for the nuclear sector and beyond. The challenges facing the nuclear sector are complex. The solutions we're developing are practical, proven and ready to make a difference. Read the full case study in our NuClear Science: Case Studies 2025-2026 publication: uknnl.com/case-study/innovat… #NuclearInnovation #Decommissioning #MedicalIsotopes #UKNNL

Building the next generation of nuclear reactors isn't just a construction challenge. It's a scientific one. How will a High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (HTGR) behave when helium at 950°C reaches the base of its core? How do new materials interact with coolants under extreme conditions? How do we model a microreactor's performance quickly enough to be useful? These are the questions UKNNL's Reactor Technology team is working to answer, through advanced modelling, simulation and experimental validation that gives designers, regulators and operators the confidence they need. Our work spans graphite core performance, reactor chemistry, thermal hydraulics and hydrogen production from nuclear heat. We contribute to international benchmark exercises, shape best practice through expert groups, and open up opportunities for early-career scientists to work on some of the most technically demanding problems in energy today. The UK's ambition to be a clean energy superpower rests on getting reactor technology right. We're helping build the scientific evidence and confidence needed to support the next generation of nuclear technologies. Read the full case study in our NuClear Science: Case Studies 2025-2026 publication: uknnl.com/case-study/how-ukn… #ReactorTechnology #AdvancedNuclear #HTGR #UKNNL

The steel that holds a reactor together. The fuel rods at its core. The irradiated materials that must be safely managed for decades after shutdown. All of it depends on materials science pushing the boundaries of what's possible. UKNNL, in partnership with the Henry Royce Institute, has led the development of the UK Fission Materials Roadmap, bringing together more than 100 experts from government, industry, academia, regulators and national laboratories to set out what the UK needs to build and operate the next generation of nuclear reactors. The roadmap spans the full lifecycle, covering reactor materials, fuels, waste management and radiation damage, while identifying priorities for future investment in infrastructure, skills and research capability. This is what it looks like when a sector comes together around a shared plan. The UK's clean energy future depends on getting the materials right. Read the full case study in our NuClear Science: Case Studies 2025-2026 publication: uknnl.com/case-study/mapping… #NuclearMaterials #Innovation #UKNNL

Effective nuclear safety enables progress. It provides the confidence needed to operate existing facilities safely and develop the next generation of nuclear technologies. At UKNNL, our Nuclear Safety Core Science Theme is helping develop fit-for-purpose approaches that are rigorous, proportionate and evidence-based. From leading UK and international working groups on criticality safety and radiation shielding to running world-first benchmark experiments in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, our experts are shaping the standards that will govern the next generation of reactors. By improving the science that underpins safety decisions, we're helping ensure future nuclear technologies can be deployed with confidence. Read the full case study in our NuClear Science: Case Studies 2025-2026 publication: uknnl.com/case-study/safety-… #NuclearSafety #Innovation #UKNNL

Every safety calculation, reactor simulation and fuel performance prediction depends on reliable nuclear data. From calculating radiation shielding thicknesses to simulating how fuel changes during reactor operation to keeping nuclear materials safely within operating limits, accurate nuclear data underpins it all. UKNNL is a leading contributor to international nuclear data programmes and libraries, including the Joint Evaluated Fission and Fusion (JEFF) collaboration. Our scientists help shape the priorities of the global nuclear data community, ensuring the UK has both the influence and the expertise to stay at the cutting edge. Nuclear data may be invisible to most people, but it underpins almost every important decision in the nuclear sector. Read the full case study in our NuClear Science: Case Studies 2025-2026 publication: uknnl.com/case-study/nuclear… #NuclearScience #CleanEnergy #Innovation #UKNNL

Eight decades. 100 million files. One of the UK's largest collections of nuclear knowledge and information. At UKNNL, we're using AI-enabled natural language search to unlock the full depth of the UK's nuclear knowledge, connecting today's scientists and engineers with insights that might otherwise take weeks to find, or never be found at all. From informing programme design to enabling faster technical decisions, our Knowledge Asset Management Strategy is helping the UK avoid duplicating effort, protect irreplaceable expertise, and accelerate the development of next-generation nuclear technologies. The UK's nuclear future depends on making the best possible use of the knowledge it already possesses. We're making sure that knowledge is never lost. Read the full case study in our NuClear Science: Case Studies 2025-2026 publication: uknnl.com/case-study/unlocki… #Innovation #KnowledgeManagement #AI #UKNNL

A roadmap for the materials that will keep reactors safe for decades to come. An ultrasound device that decontaminates in minutes instead of weeks. An AI tool searching 100 million files dating back to the 1940s. These are just some of the stories featured in our NuClear Science: Case Studies series 2025-26, published today. The series marks five years of our Science and Technology Agenda: • 400 peer-reviewed journal articles • 70 PhD researchers supported • Two collaborating centres established • 29 impact case studies delivered Featuring six new case studies, the publication explores AI-enabled knowledge management, nuclear data, safety, materials science, reactor modelling and innovation, highlighting work delivered in collaboration with partners across government, industry and academia. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this work. Explore the case studies and discover how science, innovation and collaboration are helping to tackle nationally important challenges across the UK nuclear sector. uknnl.com/2026/09/uknnl-publ… #UKNNLTogetherWeCan

With the @RoyceInstitute have we have published the Fission Materials Roadmap Interim Report. Developed with 100+ experts from 34 institutions, it sets out the priorities and decisions needed to deliver the nation's nuclear ambitions. Read it here: uknnl.com/2026/07/paving-the… #NuclearEnergy #CleanEnergy

Proud to announce that today we have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with @OfficialUoM, formalising decades of collaboration in nuclear science and engineering. Together with Dalton Nuclear, we are committed to world-leading research, growing the nuclear talent pipeline, and continuing to build the Northwest into a global hub for nuclear expertise. Here's to what comes next. Read more 👉 uknnl.com/2026/07/uknnl-and-… #UKNNLTogetherWeCan

UKNNL welcomes the government's commitment to more than 500 new nuclear doctoral students as part of today's Nuclear Regulatory Review response. Delivering new nuclear projects at the pace and scale the UK needs requires a deep pipeline of sovereign technical talent, and UKNNL is committed to playing its part in building it. We bring together industry expertise and academic excellence to give researchers the real-world experience and connections they need to make an impact in the workforce. Working closely with academia is central to developing the skills and research pipeline we need. Our strategic partnership with Bangor University and their Nuclear Futures institute is a great example of this in action. In addition to the work we've done together since 2022, we are now also a delivery partner on PANDA, Bangor's new £24 million doctoral programme, which will train up to 100 PhD students alongside partners including the universities of Bristol, Birmingham, Cambridge and Manchester. Our CEO Julianne Antrobus said: "Close partnerships with academia are essential to delivering the recommendations of the Nuclear Regulatory Review, and UKNNL is pleased to see government investing in more nuclear PhDs. We know the value of these — our pioneering post-doctorate programme was the first of its kind in the nuclear sector when it launched, and we have welcomed dozens of talented people who will no doubt go on to take the sector forward."

Today the government has published its response to the Nuclear Regulatory Review, committing to implement all of the Fingleton Report's recommendations. UKNNL welcomes this news, and is ready to play its full part in making that happen. The review sets out an ambitious and necessary vision for transforming how we deliver nuclear in the UK. The shift towards smarter, more proportionate regulation, focused on real risk and evidence-based outcomes, is exactly the kind of change our sector needs to deliver new nuclear at pace, reduce costs, and strengthen the UK's energy security. As the government's lead civil nuclear fission laboratory, UKNNL is well-placed to support this transition. We work across the full breadth of the civil nuclear programme, from advanced reactor development and nuclear fuels research to waste management and decommissioning. We are ready to support the sector in making these reforms work, helping to demonstrate what smarter, more efficient delivery looks like in practice. As our CEO Julianne Antrobus says: "As we build the lab of the future we are uniquely placed to work in collaboration and be an early adopter of the recommendations to help the sector scale. UKNNL is ready to work hand in hand with government, industry and regulators to deliver a smarter, more efficient and safer nuclear programme that enhances the UK's position as a global leader in this critical field."

Are you curious about how we manage long-term storage of nuclear materials? So are our scientists, who work with temperatures as hot as lava to do just that. This British Science Week, we’re proud to highlight the science behind safe nuclear decommissioning. Did you know our Workington team is testing Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) technology that could transform how the UK manages plutonium? Using temperatures as hot as volcanic lava (1,300°C!) and pressures equivalent to the deepest ocean trenches (1,000 bar), this groundbreaking work feeds into the @NDAgovuk's plutonium immobilisation programme. #BSW26 #NuclearInnovation #UKNNLTogetherWeCan #Decommissioning

The theme of this year’s British Science Week is curiosity. With all the different branches of science, you might ask how it all comes together? UKNNL is proud to be part of the National Research Organisations (NRO) Group. Together, we’re connecting the dots between organisations that carry out curiosity-driven scientific research. By bringing our unique national and international capabilities together, we’re able to act as a single point of access to UK scientific expertise and infrastructure and deliver real-world impact – That’s British science at its best. Curious to learn more? Our Chief Science & Technology Officer and Deputy CEO Gareth Headdock explains here: uknnl.com/2026/03/how-does-c… #BSW26 #NuclearScience #UKScience #UKNNLTogetherWeCan

Celebrating British Science Week with a huge congratulations to Haythem Draoui! 🎉 Haythem is a PhD researcher at @lborouniversity working on pioneering sensor technology to detect early signs of spent nuclear fuel canister failures — research that matters for the safe future of nuclear decommissioning in the UK. He's been selected as a finalist in the Engineering category at STEM for BRITAIN 2026 and will be presenting his work at the House of Commons on 17 March. We're incredibly proud to provide industrial supervision through the @NDAgovuk-funded PhD Bursary Scheme and support the next generation of nuclear scientists. ‘Curiosity’ is the theme of this British Science Week and Haythem is a perfect example of this in action. 💡 #BSW26 #STEMforBRITAIN #Engineering #NuclearScience #STEM #Research #PhD