Multi-million pound nuclear factory ‘on track’
PLANS for a major nuclear research centre in Yorkshire are firmly on track and will not be hit by government funding cuts, leading players behind the scheme have pledged.
Planning permission for the UK’s new Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (NAMRC) at the Advanced Manufacturing Park at Catcliffe was granted by Rotherham Council last month.
The proposed 8,000 sq m building, which will include 5,200m of workshop space, will directly employ 80 staff, including academic researchers, technicians, experienced industry people, and apprentices.
Construction work on the NAMRC is set to start by the end of the summer and is expected to be completed in November 2011.
The centre, which is being built as part of the Government’s Low Carbon Industry Strategy, will be led by the University of Sheffield in partnership with the University of Manchester with Rolls- Royce as a lead industrial partner.
Contrary to media speculation that funding for the NAMRC was under threat, Tim Chapman, spokesman for the NAMRC, said the government remained “strategically and financially committed to the Nuclear AMRC”.
Funding for the NAMRC is split into three streams with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills to provide £15m of funding and Yorkshire Forward £7m. Other funding is expected to come from the European Regional Development Fund.
Sheffield University has a direct contract with BIS for the total grant of £22m.
Simon Hill, executive director of business at regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, said: “We have worked hard with our partners to bring the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre to Yorkshire and Humber and continue to support its development. The project is moving forward and has in fact already started onsite.
“Yorkshire Forward has agreed with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) to commit £7m from our 2011/12 budget into a central funding pot and this forms part of a total grant of £22m, which has been contracted by BIS with Sheffield University, for the delivery of the NAMRC.”
Mr Chapman said that DavyMarkham, Independent Forgings & Alloys and Maher, all based in Sheffield, have joined the NAMRC as ‘Tier 2’ members, as had international engineering consultancy Parsons Brinckerhoff.
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.
COMING SOON: Ian Briggs visits the Advanced Manufacturing Park and discovers how the centre is leading the way for companies across the globe.
