The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is a

UK government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

research organisation responsible for the development of

fusion energy Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, while releasing energy. Devices d ...

. It is an executive

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process o ...

of the

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It was established on 7 February 2023 by a February 2023 British ...

(DESNZ). The authority focuses on United Kingdom and European fusion energy research programmes at

Culham Culham is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in a bend of the River Thames, south of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, Abingdon in Oxfordshire. The parish includes Culham Science Centre and Europa School UK (formerly the European Sch ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, including the world's most powerful operating fusion device, the

Joint European Torus The Joint European Torus (JET) was a magnetically confined plasma physics experiment, located at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy in Oxfordshire, UK. Based on a tokamak design, the fusion research facility was a joint European project with the ...

(JET). The research aims to develop fusion power as a commercially viable, environmentally responsible energy source for the future. A record 59 megajoules of sustained fusion energy was demonstrated by scientists and engineers working on JET in December 2021. In JET's final deuterium-tritium experiments (DTE3), high fusion power was consistently produced for 5 seconds, resulting in a ground-breaking record of 69 megajoules using a mere 0.2 milligrams of fuel. JET has now ceased operating and decommissioning has commenced. United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority owns the Culham Science Centre and has a stake in the Harwell Campus, and is involved in the development of both sites as locations for science and innovation-based business. On its formation in 1954, the authority was responsible for the United Kingdom's entire nuclear programme, both civil and defence, as well as the policing of nuclear sites. It made pioneering developments in nuclear (fission) power, overseeing the development of nuclear technology and performing much scientific research. However, since the early 1970s its areas of work have been gradually reduced, with functions transferred to other government organisations as well as to the private sector. UKAEA has also been involved in undertaking safety and reliability assessments for outside bodies, due to its long running experience in such work within the nuclear field.

History

The authority was established on 19 July 1954 when the Atomic Energy Authority Act 1954 received royal assent and gave the authority the power "to produce, use and dispose of atomic energy and carry out research into any matters therewith". The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority was formed from the Ministry of Supply, Department of Atomic Energy and inherited its facilities and most of its personnel on its formation. The first chairman was Sir

Edwin Plowden Edwin Noel Auguste Plowden, Baron Plowden, Order of the British Empire, GBE, Order of the Bath, KCB (6 January 1907 – 15 February 2001) was a British industrialist and public servant in the Treasury. Background and career Plowden was born in ...

, with board members running the three major divisions: * Industrial Group: Sir Christopher Hinton * Research Group: Sir

John Cockcroft Sir John Douglas Cockcroft (27 May 1897 – 18 September 1967) was an English nuclear physicist who shared the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics with Ernest Walton for their splitting of the atomic nucleus, which was instrumental in the developmen ...

* Weapons Group: Sir

William Penney William George Penney, Baron Penney, (24 June 19093 March 1991) was an English mathematician and professor of mathematical physics at the Imperial College London and later the rector of Imperial College London. He had a leading role in the d ...

The authority inherited nearly 20,000 employees, which doubled to 41,000 by 1961. Most of the authority's early activities were related to the United Kingdom's nuclear weapons programme, and the need for

plutonium Plutonium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is a silvery-gray actinide metal that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four ...

highly enriched uranium Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (238 ...

, and materials for

hydrogen bomb A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H-bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lo ...

s. Between 1952 and 1958 UKAEA carried out 21 nuclear weapon tests in Australia and the Pacific. Following the

Atomic Energy Authority Act 1971 The Atomic Energy Authority Act 1971 (c. 11) is an act of Parliament of the United Kingdom. The principal effect of the act was to transfer certain functions, property and responsibilities of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority to two newly ...

, the authority was split into three, with only research activities remaining with the authority.

The Radiochemical Centre Ltd Amersham plc was a manufacturer of radiopharmaceutical products, to be used in diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine procedures. The company became GE Healthcare following a takeover in 2003, which was based at the original site in Amersh ...

took over production of medical and industrial

radioisotope A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess numbers of either neutrons or protons, giving it excess nuclear energy, and making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ...

s and was later privatised in 1982 as

Amersham plc Amersham plc was a manufacturer of radiopharmaceutical products, to be used in diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine procedures. The company became GE Healthcare following a takeover in 2003, which was based at the original site in Amers ...

British Nuclear Fuels Ltd British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

(BNFL) took over nuclear fuel and weapons material producing activities: the manufacturing plant at

Springfields Springfields is a nuclear fuel production installation in Salwick, near Preston in Lancashire, England (). The site is currently operated by Springfields Fuels Limited, under the management of Westinghouse Electric UK Limited, on a 150-year ...

, the enrichment plant at

Capenhurst Capenhurst is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is two miles south west of Ellesmere Port, at the southern end of the Wi ...

, the spent-fuel facility at

Windscale Sellafield, formerly known as Windscale, is a large multi-function nuclear site close to Seascale on the coast of Cumbria, England. As of August 2022, primary activities are nuclear waste processing and storage and nuclear decommissioning. F ...

, and the dual-purpose Calder Hall and Chapelcross military

producing reactors.Additional link
/ref> The

Atomic Energy Authority (Weapons Group) Act 1973 The Atomic Energy Authority (Weapons Group) Act 1973 (1973 c. 4) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom. The effect of the Act was to transfer the functions, property, liabilities and responsibilities related to atomic weapons from the Wea ...

transferred responsibility for management of the UK's

nuclear deterrent Nuclear strategy involves the development of doctrines and strategies for the production and use of nuclear weapons. As a sub-branch of military strategy, nuclear strategy attempts to match nuclear weapons as means to political ends. In addit ...

, including the

Atomic Weapons Research Establishment } The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) is a United Kingdom Ministry of Defence research facility responsible for the design, manufacture and support of warheads for the UK's nuclear weapons. It is the successor to the Atomic Weapons Researc ...

Aldermaston Aldermaston ( ) is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. In the 2011 census, the parish had a population of 1,015. The village is in the Kennet Valley and bounds Hampshire to the south. It is approximately from Newbury, Basin ...

, directly to the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. In 1982 the authority was involved in the creation of Nirex, to develop and operate radioactive waste disposal facilities in the United Kingdom. The

Atomic Energy Authority Act 1986 The Atomic Energy Authority Act 1986 (c. 3) is an act of Parliament of the United Kingdom. The effect of the Act was to put the finances of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) on a trading fund basis, such that what the Authority c ...

put the authority into trading fund mode, requiring it to act and account as though it were a commercial enterprise and become self-financing. The authority was then split again by the Atomic Energy Authority Act 1995, with the more commercial parts transferred into a public company

AEA Technology Ricardo-AEA Ltd, trading as Ricardo Energy & Environment, is a UK-based engineering company. It was formed on November 8, 2012, when Ricardo acquired the business, operating assets and employees of AEA Technology Plc (also known as AEAT and AEA E ...

, which was then floated on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

in 1996. The nuclear facilities used for the UK's research and development programme, which held large decommissioning liabilities, were retained. The role of the authority became to decommission these nuclear assets and to restore the environment around the sites. From the early 1990s the authority completed more decommissioning work than anyone in Europe, and had considerable success in regenerating former nuclear sites for commercial use.

21st century

Following the

Energy Act 2004 The Energy Act 2004 (c. 20) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerned with nuclear power, renewable and sustainable energy and energy regulation. Royal assent was granted on 22 July 2004. Part 1 Chapter 1 Section 10 Section ...

, on 1 April 2005 the UK's specialist nuclear police force, the

UK Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary was the armed security police force of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. The force existed for 50 years, operating from 1955, until 1 April 2005. Establishment The constabula ...

, was reconstituted as the

Civil Nuclear Constabulary The Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Heddlu Sifil Niwclear'') is a Special police#United Kingdom, special police force responsible for providing law enforcement agency, law enforcement and security at any relevant nuclea ...

. Responsibility for the force was also removed from the authority and transferred to the Civil Nuclear Police Authority. The 2004 Act also established the

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (formerly the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) formed by the Energy Act 2004. It evolved from ...

(NDA), which on 1 April 2005 took ownership and responsibility for the liabilities relating to the cleanup of UK nuclear sites. The authority became a contractor for the NDA for the decommissioning work at

Dounreay Dounreay (; ) is a small settlement and the site of two large nuclear establishments on the north coast of Caithness Caithness (; ; ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutena ...

, Harwell, Windscale, Winfrith and the JET facilities at Culham. On 1 April 2008, the Authority announced a major re-structuring to meet its decommissioning obligations with the NDA. A new wholly owned subsidiary,

UKAEA Limited The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of fusion energy. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). Th ...

, was formed with established expertise from the existing company, to focus on nuclear decommissioning and environmental restoration management and consultancy in the United Kingdom and international markets. At the same time, Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) was formed out of the existing Authority team at Dounreay and was licensed by the

Health and Safety Executive The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a British public body responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare. It has additionally adopted a research role into occupational risks in Great B ...

to operate the site and carry out its decommissioning under the Authority's management. DSRL became a subsidiary of United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Limited. In parallel with these changes, the site at Windscale in Cumbria was transferred to

Sellafield Ltd Sellafield Ltd is a British nuclear decommissioning Site Licence Company (SLC) controlled by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), a UK government body set up specifically to deal with the nuclear legacy under the Energy Act 2004. Fro ...

, a site licence company under contract to the NDA, following close review and scrutiny by the Health and Safety Executive and environmental and security regulators. The majority of authority employees at the site transferred to Sellafield Ltd. On 2 February 2009, the authority announced the next stage in restructuring. Research Sites Restoration Limited (RSRL), was formed from the existing teams at Harwell in Oxfordshire and Winfrith in Dorset and licensed by the Health and Safety Executive to operate those sites. RSRL continued the decommissioning programmes for Harwell and Winfrith on behalf of the NDA. RSRL also became a subsidiary of UKAEA Limited. In October 2009,

Babcock International Group Babcock International Group plc is a British aerospace, defence and nuclear engineering services company based in London, England. It specialises in managing complex assets and infrastructure. Although the company has civil contracts, its main b ...

plc acquired

, the nuclear clean-up subsidiary of the authority, including its subsidiary companies DSRL and RSRL. In 2009 the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE) was launched as the new name for the home of United Kingdom fusion research. In 2014 UKAEA announced the creation of a new branch of research, using expertise gained from the remote handling system created for JET to form a new centre for robotics known as RACE (Remote Applications in Challenging Environments). The Authority has continued to expand its facilities at Culham in recent years, with the opening of a Materials Research Facility in 2016 and creation of th
Oxfordshire Advanced Skills
apprentice training centre.

Current activities

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority states its mission as "To lead the delivery of sustainable fusion energy and maximise the scientific and economic benefit." Its research programmes include a number of laboratories and other facilities at the Culham site. ProjectPixels Plasma

Facilities and programmes

Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE)

The UK's national laboratory for fusion research, CCFE undertakes plasma theory and modelling studies to establish the physics basis for future fusion powerplants. It also studies the materials and engineering technology of

tokamak A tokamak (; ) is a device which uses a powerful magnetic field generated by external magnets to confine plasma (physics), plasma in the shape of an axially symmetrical torus. The tokamak is one of several types of magnetic confinement fusi ...

fusion reactors. The centrepiece of CCFE's programme is the MAST Upgrade

spherical tokamak A spherical tokamak is a type of fusion power device based on the tokamak principle. It is notable for its very narrow profile, or ''aspect ratio''. A traditional tokamak has a toroidal confinement area that gives it an overall shape similar to ...

experiment - the successor to the

MAST Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mas ...

device - which is expected to begin operation in 2019. CCFE also operates and maintains the Joint European Torus (JET) for its research partners around Europe, and is a member of the co-ordinated R&D programme led by the

EUROfusion EUROfusion is a consortium of national fusion research institutes located in the European Union, the UK, Switzerland and Ukraine. It was established in 2014 to succeed the European Fusion Development Agreement ( EFDA) as the umbrella organisation ...

consortium.

Materials Research Facility

UKAEA'
Materials Research Facility
carries out micro-characterisation of radioactive materials for researchers in both fusion energy and nuclear fission. It is open to users from academic and commercial organisations, aiming to bridge the gap between university laboratories and those at nuclear licensed sites. It is part of th
National Nuclear Users' Facility
and has received funding from the

Henry Royce Institute The Henry Royce Institute (often referred to as ‘Royce’) is the UK’s national institute for advanced materials research and innovation. Vision Royce's vision is to identify challenges and stimulate innovation in advanced materials researc ...

. On the 14th of October 2022 the Materials Research Facility opened its extension.

Oxfordshire Advanced Skills

A partnership between United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and the Science & Technology Facilities Council, Oxfordshire Advanced Skills is an apprentice training centre located at Culham Science Centre. It offers training for technicians in engineering and hi-tech disciplines, with the intention of providing employers with highly skilled recruits ready to enter the workplace. Training is provided by th
Manufacturing Technology Centre

Remote Applications in Challenging Environments (RACE)

RACE is a test facility for robotics and autonomous systems. It grew out of UKAEA's remote handling operations at the JET nuclear fusion device, which date back to the 1990s. The UK Government funded the construction of the RACE centre at Culham with the intention of taking the knowledge gained at JET into other industries with 'challenging environments' where it is difficult for humans to perform work. RACE currently works with organisations in nuclear fusion and fission, with large physics facilities and with autonomous vehicle developers.

Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP)

The £220 million STEP programme aims to accelerate the delivery of fusion power to the energy market. STEP will be a prototype powerplant capable of demonstrating fusion as a viable technology for electricity generation. It uses the compact 'spherical tokamak' concept developed by UKAEA at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy. STEP is currently in a five-year conceptual design phase and is expected to be constructed and operational by 2040.

H3AT and FTF

In December 2017, UKAEA announced plans for two further fusion research centres: Hydrogen-3 Advanced Technology (H3AT) and Fusion Technology Facilities. H3AT, located at Culham, will study the processing and storage of tritium, one of the two fuels expected to supply commercial fusion reactors. The Fusion Technology Facilities, based at both Culham and at a new UKAEA Yorkshire site in

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

, carries out thermal, mechanical, hydraulic and electromagnetic tests on prototype components to replicate the conditions experienced inside fusion reactors.

Coat of arms

Locations

Authority site locations: *

Culham Science Centre The Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE) is the UK's national laboratory for fusion research. It is located at the Culham Science Centre, near Culham, Oxfordshire, and is the site of the Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST) and the now closed Jo ...

, Culham, Oxfordshire *

Harwell Science and Innovation Campus The Harwell Science and Innovation Campus is a 700-acre science and technology campus in Oxfordshire, England. Over 6,000 people work there in over 240 public and private sector organisations, working across sectors including Space, Clean Energ ...

, Oxfordshire *

Advanced Manufacturing Park The Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) is a manufacturing technology park in Waverley, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. It was partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund, with Yorkshire Forward, and developed by Harworth Gro ...

, Rotherham Historical site locations: *

Atomic Weapons Establishment } The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) is a United Kingdom Ministry of Defence research facility responsible for the design, manufacture and support of warheads for the UK's nuclear weapons. It is the successor to the Atomic Weapons Researc ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

(near

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

) *

Chapelcross nuclear power station Chapelcross nuclear power station is a former Magnox nuclear power plant, nuclear power station undergoing decommissioning. It is located in Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, Annan in Dumfries and Galloway in southwest Scotland, and was in operation ...

, Chapelcross (near

Annan, Dumfries and Galloway Annan ( ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. Historically part of Dumfriesshire, its public buildings include Annan Academy, of which the writer Thomas Carlyle was a pupil, and a Georgian build ...

) *

Culcheth Culcheth is a village in the civil parish of Culcheth and Glazebury, in the Warrington district, in Cheshire, England, six miles (10 km) north-east of Warrington. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, Culcheth is p ...

(near

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

) *

Daresbury Laboratory Daresbury Laboratory is a scientific research laboratory based at Sci-Tech Daresbury campus near Daresbury in Halton, Cheshire, England. The laboratory began operations in 1962 and was officially opened on 16 June 1967 as the Daresbury Nuclea ...

Daresbury Daresbury is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 246. History The name means "Deor's fortification", derived from an Old English personal name and the word ''burh' ...

(near

) *

Caithness Caithness (; ; ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Scotland. There are two towns, being Wick, Caithness, Wick, which was the county town, and Thurso. The count ...

(now part of

Sellafield Sellafield, formerly known as Windscale, is a large multi-function nuclear site close to Seascale on the coast of Cumbria, England. As of August 2022, primary activities are nuclear waste storage, nuclear waste processing and storage and nucle ...

) * Risley (near

) * Springfields (near Preston) *

Winfrith Winfrith Atomic Energy Establishment, or AEE Winfrith, was a United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority site near Winfrith Newburgh in Dorset. It covered an area on Winfrith Heath to the west of the village of Wool between the A352 road and the ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

References

External links

*
Culham Centre for Fusion Energy website

Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) Website

Research Sites Restoration Limited (RSRL) Website

UKAEA History – The First Fifty Years

- Daily Telegraph obituary {{Authority control Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Government agencies established in 1954 Governmental nuclear organizations 1954 establishments in the United Kingdom 1954 in technology 1954 in the environment Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government Organisations based in Oxfordshire Science and technology in Oxfordshire Scientific organizations established in 1954

History

21st century

Current activities

Facilities and programmes

Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE)

Materials Research Facility

Oxfordshire Advanced Skills

Remote Applications in Challenging Environments (RACE)

Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP)

H3AT and FTF

Coat of arms

Locations

See also

References

External links