Manchester University leads a £13 million eco-friendly graphite initiative for advanced modular nuclear reactors
The University of Manchester, under the leadership of Professor Abbie Jones, Chair in Nuclear Graphite, has been awarded a £13m package to spearhead a groundbreaking program called ENLIGHT. This program is focused on redefining the role of graphite in nuclear power, a critical component in many advanced modular reactor designs.
In a collaborative effort, the Universities of Oxford, Plymouth, and Loughborough will join forces with The University of Manchester on the ENLIGHT program. Loughborough researchers will utilise advanced computational modeling to predict graphite performance under high-stress environments, while the University of Plymouth will focus on analysing the microscopic structure of repurposed graphite for safety and reliability. The university's expertise in analysing the intricate properties of porous materials will be instrumental in ensuring the suitability of repurposed graphite for next-generation nuclear reactors.
The ENLIGHT program will advance graphite technology through three main workstreams: manufacturing, recycling, and characterisation. By addressing both the supply of high-grade nuclear graphite and the management of existing graphite waste, the program aims to deploy next-generation advanced modular reactors in the UK.
The UK currently relies entirely on imports for its nuclear graphite needs. However, with the nation's existing advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) fleet set to retire by 2028, and over 100,000 tonnes of irradiated graphite already in storage, finding sustainable, sovereign solutions has become urgent.
ENLIGHT will involve partnerships with industry partners across the nuclear industry. The project, funded by an £8.2m grant from UK Research and Innovation's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and additional funding from industry partners and higher education institutions, also aims to invest in training the next generation of scientists and engineers to meet the UK government's ambition of delivering 24GW of new nuclear capacity by 2050.
The ENLIGHT consortium aims for a cleaner energy transition and helps to demystify traditional concepts surrounding the nuclear industry. By pioneering sustainable graphite solutions for advanced modular reactors, the ENLIGHT program positions the UK as a hub for nuclear innovation, bolstering energy security and accelerating progress towards net zero.
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