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Henry Royce Institute & UK Atomic Energy Authority

Stand: P196
Materials Innovations
_Energy
Advanced Metals
AI & Robotics
https://www.royce.ac.uk/research/research-areas/nuclear-materials/?research-area=nuclear-materials

About us

The Henry Royce Institute is the UK's national institute for advanced materials research and innovation.

Royce supports world-recognised excellence in UK materials research, accelerating commercial exploitation of innovations and delivering positive economic and societal impact for the UK:

• Enabling national materials research foresighting, collaboration and strategy
• Providing access to the latest facilities and capability
• Catalysing industrial collaboration and exploitation of materials research
• Fostering materials science skills development, innovation training and outreach

Royce is involved in a growing number of major collaborations programmes with the aim of leveraging the UK’s infrastructure to tackle global challenges. Many of these programmes create links between leading businesses, SMEs, Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs), local authorities and central government with goal of supporting the translation of research into new materials and technologies. This collaborative model encourages a joined up ecosystem in materials innovation, providing a clear pipeline for the translation from fundamental research to technologies which can be scaled-up and integrated by industry.

UKAEA’s Materials Research Facility (MRF) prepares and examines samples of radioactive materials to assess their performance in nuclear reactors. It is part of the UK Government’s National Nuclear User Facility and the Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials.

The Nuclear Materials Research Area seeks to enable innovation in radioactive/irradiated materials research to facilitate advancements in all nuclear sectors: civil, space, defence and security, legacy waste and decommissioning, and medical isotopes. Driving improvements in cross cutting themes including nuclear specific skills and training, sustainability and life cycle assessment, Materials 4.0, and Equality-Diversity-Inclusion.
The Nuclear Materials Research Area is resourced by four Henry Royce Institute partners, namely University of Manchester (Royce Hub & Dalton Cumbria Facility), the University of Sheffield, UKAEA and UKNNL. This enables research to be conducted across a wide range of radioactivity levels.
The Nuclear Materials programme is structured around four flagship research topics: 1) Plutonium Lifecycle, 2) Materials Degradation, 3) High Temperature Systems and 4) Advanced Nuclear Fuels; these research topics are designed to investigate materials selection, manufacturing, and data challenges. The Nuclear Materials Research Area investigates radioactive materials, whereas the Materials Systems for Demanding Environments and Advanced Metals Processing Research Areas address the research needs of non-radioactive materials and applications not subjected to irradiated operating conditions.

Products & services

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UKAEA Materials Research Facility

UKAEA’s Materials Research Facility (MRF) prepares and examines samples of radioactive materials to assess their performance in nuclear reactors. It is part of the UK Government’s National Nuclear User Facility and the Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials. The materials inside reactors face a unique combination of high temperatures and fast-moving neutrons produced by nuclear reactions. Developing materials that can survive for long periods in these conditions is therefore a high priority for the nuclear industry. Data from the MRF is used in three main ways: Making existing nuclear power stations safer and helping to extend their operational life; Informing the design of future generations of UK fission reactors; Developing prototype fusion power plants, in particular the European DEMO reactor. We have a range of capabilities for processing and analysing radioactive samples. We have microscopy and mechanical and thermo-physical testing equipment, with more coming online soon. We can take samples up to TeraBecquerel levels and cut these down in hot cells to much smaller specimens. These can then be used for analysis and tests either here on-site in shielded enclosures or in university laboratories. There is also an experimental area for tritium, beryllium and other hazardous materials

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United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory

We are leveraging the UK’s rich nuclear heritage to help solve global challenges in four strategic areas: Clean Energy, Environmental Restoration, Health and Nuclear Medicine and Security and Non-Proliferation. At a time when society is waking up to acting on the environmental crisis our planet faces, it is impossible to overestimate the scale of the challenge ahead for the UK in reaching net zero by 2050. Without nuclear, the UK will not meet this target on time. And without UKNNL’s work, the UK nuclear sector cannot deliver what is required. Whether it is accelerating the UK’s demonstration programme for Advanced Modular Reactors or delivering our first sustainable indigenous supply of medical radioisotopes since the 1960s, UKNNL will be at the forefront of game-changing advances that will help to transform the environment and people’s lives, now and into the future. And it is our people here at UKNNL who will be driving this forward, supported by our customers and partners in government, academia and the private sector both in the UK and worldwide. Royce facilities at UKNNL include a dedicated materials characterisation suite for the analysis of highly active materials including microscopy, Raman and sample preparation techniques. Instruments can be modified for remote handling and characterisation of highly active samples (e.g. irradiated fuel and cladding). These state-of-the-art facilities are dedicated to supporting the development of materials associated with, or originating in, high neutron flux environments.

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Dalton Cumbrian Facility

The Dalton Cumbrian Facility (DCF) is an established centre of radiation science and host to the Royce Irradiation Environments Technology Platform. The facility allows the research community to study and grow understanding of the complex interactions between ionising radiation and materials or processes. To enable this research, DCF houses large-scale sources of ionising radiation and a range of material modification, characterisation, and analytical equipment. The facility has a dedicated on-site team of research-active experimentalists to help the community to design, develop and deliver experiments to a high standard and to interpret data and outcomes. As well as being part of the Henry Royce Institute, DCF is a partner in the EPSRC UK National Ion Beam Centre and the National Nuclear User Facility. Purpose – Our purpose is to foster and support the understanding of radiation-driven processes and the responsible use of radiation. Vision – Our vision, as a leading hub for the UK radiation science community, is to support innovation in applications of radiation science and engineering. We perform cutting-edge research and skills development, engaging directly with our users, supporting an ever-growing community through modelling, planning and execution of experiments involving ionising radiations. Through the Henry Royce Institute, DCF offers facilities able to support all the research areas where there is an interest in behaviour of materials in radiation environments. This is particularly of relevance to 2D materials, advanced materials processing, biomedical materials, materials systems for demanding environments, and nuclear materials.

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Training & Skills

To drive innovation, we recognise we must put the development of people at the heart of our mission. Our initiatives are directed at developing research and technical expertise across materials science, and in raising awareness of the fantastic array of career pathways in the discipline. We achieve this through: The delivery of a wide-ranging technical upskilling programme for industry and academia which embraces both detailed materials science techniques and broader awareness courses The development of a new generation of future researchers in materials science with a balance of skills across techniques, innovation, commercial awareness, project management, team-working and problem-solving A wide-ranging outreach programme driven by widening participation and stimulating awareness and uptake of materials science Our training events are of relevance to a wide range of scientists and engineers. We deliver skills and training for PhD students, early-career researchers, technicians, as well as experimental and application scientists Our content is relevant across academia, as well as in SMEs and industry, and partnership-style delivery helps drive collaboration, networking and innovation in advanced materials.

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Industrial Collaboration Programme

The Henry Royce Institute’s Industrial Collaboration Programme (ICP) provides grant funding for research, development, and innovation sprint projects that support technology translation. This competition is Royce’s flagship funding initiative and is designed to catalyse impactful partnerships between industry, academia, and Research Technology Organisations (RTOs). Through the Industrial Collaboration Programme, Royce funds projects that respond to major national challenges and accelerate the progression of advanced materials from breakthrough discovery to real-world application. ICP supports innovation across the entire economic value chain, from agile start-ups to global corporations and from early-stage research to fully manufactured products. Since its launch, ICP has awarded more than £18.8 million in funding to over 300 partner organisations. This investment has delivered significant economic value for the UK. Project stakeholders who took part in a 2025 survey reported a five-to-one return on investment and more than £60 million in follow-on funding. One fifth of surveyed businesses reported creating new jobs as a result of ICP support, and a growing pipeline of new products and intellectual property has emerged from funded projects. By enabling collaboration between leading UK universities and industry, ICP is harnessing the UK’s world-class expertise in materials science to address critical challenges in areas such as sustainability, energy efficiency, and healthcare. The Industrial Collaboration Programme is accelerating the journey from research to commercialisation and is helping to advance the objectives of the National Materials Innovation Strategy, including increased productivity, enhanced national resilience, and the creation of highly skilled employment opportunities.