Nuclear factory for Yorkshire
JOBS are set to be created in South Yorkshire after the region was announced as the site of a new multi-million pound Rolls-Royce civil nuclear factory.
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson outlined a package of measures he said would provide “real help”, including a new research centre.
He also announced an additional £8m to upgrade nuclear laboratories at Manchester University’s Dalton Nuclear Institute as well as the creation of a nuclear low carbon economic area in the North West and Yorkshire.
South Yorkshire has been chosen as the base for the UK’s new Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (NAMRC), as part of the Government’s Low Carbon Industry Strategy.
The NAMRC will provide a focal point for the bulk of the UK civil nuclear manufacturing industry supply chain, ensuring that manufacturers in the UK have the capability and capacity required to compete for nuclear new build in the UK and globally, from skills training to research and development.
Yorkshire Forward is investing up to £10m in the new centre which will be based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, and led by the University of Sheffield in partnership with the University of Manchester with Rolls- Royce as a lead industrial partner.
Lord Mandelson also announced that Rolls-Royce’s planned civil nuclear facility will also be developed in South Yorkshire.
The facility will manufacture, assemble and test high quality components that are essential to meet the requirements of the planned new civil nuclear power plants across the UK.
The investment will create more than 300 jobs, with hundreds more expected to be made throughout industry supply chains, across the region.
Tom Riordan, chief executive of Yorkshire Forward, said: “Yorkshire Forward has worked closely with Rolls-Royce and the Government to secure both investments and this announcement is incredible news for a part of our region hit hard by the recession.
“The UK’s nuclear programme is expected to create over 4,500 engineering jobs over the next 25 years and well over a £1bn a year to the industry. Yorkshire Forward’s investment into both the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and Rolls-Royce’s new manufacturing facility will firmly put the region at the very heart of the UK’s energy sector.
“This cements our position as a centre of excellence for manufacturing, to a global marketplace, securing and creating jobs now and in the future.”
Lord Mandelson said: “We know that we have to make the transition to a low carbon future, and the Government is determined to ensure that British businesses get the support they need to seize the business opportunities that transition creates.
“The civil nuclear sector is one of the key low carbon industries where the UK has the potential for job creation, economic growth and engineering and manufacturing excellence. Today’s announcement is about investing in our future. A greener, smarter, more skilled, more balanced British economy.”
The leader of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, Coun Roger Stone, said: “Rolls-Royce is the best in the world at what it does. In choosing The AMP in Rotherham for its Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, it has chosen a location that is among the best in the world, with other world-leading companies already here and across South Yorkshire.
“Rolls-Royce is already partnering The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing, also at the Park, so this news, and the news that Rolls is to create a civil nuclear manufacturing facility in South Yorkshire, is further testimony to what the area offers.”
