The United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory (UKNNL, formerly National Nuclear Laboratory and earlier Nexia Solutions) 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.

owned and operated nuclear services technology provider covering the whole of the nuclear fuel cycle. It is fully customer-funded and operates at six locations in the United Kingdom. Its customers have included 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 ...

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 ...

, Westinghouse, 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 ...

, 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 ...

, the

UK Atomic Energy Authority 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). T ...

, VT Nuclear and

British Energy British Energy was the UK's largest electricity generation company by volume, before being taken over by Électricité de France (EDF) in 2009. British Energy operated eight former UK state-owned nuclear power stations and one coal-fired power ...

. It also has links with academia, including collaborative agreements on waste immobilisation and disposal with the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

and on nuclear materials research with the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

History

The organisation began to come together in 1996 when a number of separate research and development facilities began to coalesce into a single unit within

British Nuclear Fuels 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). In 2003, this research and technology business was re-launched as Nuclear Sciences and Technology Services (NSTS) to ready the business for transformation into a fully commercial entity. In 2005, following the restructuring of the wider nuclear industry, Nexia Solutions was formed out of NSTS, as a wholly owned subsidiary of BNFL. In July 2006, the

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.

stated its intention to preserve and develop key research and development capabilities potentially as part of a National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL). In October 2006,

Secretary of State for Trade and Industry The secretary of state for business and trade (business secretary), is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Department for Business and Trade. The incumb ...

Alistair Darling Alistair Maclean Darling, Baron Darling of Roulanish, (28 November 1953 – 30 November 2023) was a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under prime minister Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party ...

, announced the establishment of the NNL, to be based on Nexia Solutions and the British Technology Centre at the

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 ...

facility. NNL was formally announced by John Hutton,

Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform The secretary of state for business and trade (business secretary), is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Department for Business and Trade. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of th ...

in an announcement at the Sellafield Visitors Centre on 23 July 2008. On 23 March 2009 it was announced by the

Department of Energy and Climate Change The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the government of the United Kingdom created on 3 October 2008, by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to take over some of the ...

(DECC) that a consortium made up of

Serco Serco Group plc is a British multinational corporation, multinational military, defence, Healthcare, health, Space industry, space, private prison, justice, Human migration, migration, customer service, customer services, and transport company ...

, Battelle and the

had been selected as the new management contractors for the NNL. The contract was for an initial three-year period with options to be extended by up to two years. DECC had been engaged in competitive dialogue with the winning consortium as well as QQEST, a joint venture between

QinetiQ QinetiQ ( as in '' kinetic'') is a British defence technology company headquartered in Farnborough, Hampshire. It operates primarily in the defence, security and critical national infrastructure markets and run testing and evaluation capabili ...

and

EnergySolutions EnergySolutions (stylized as Energy''Solutions''), headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is one of the largest processors of low level waste (LLW) in America, making it also one of the world's largest nuclear waste processors. It was formed in 2 ...

, since October 2008. The management contract commenced on 1 April 2009, when ownership of the NNL transferred from BNFL directly to DECC with shareholder responsibilities delegated to the

Shareholder Executive The Shareholder Executive (ShEx) was a body within the UK Government between 2003 and 2016, responsible for managing the government's financial interest in a range of state-owned businesses for commercial rather than political interests. It was ...

. Mike Lawrence of Battelle was appointed to lead the new NNL management team as managing director. He had more than 40 years of experience in the nuclear profession, including management of the United States Hanford Reservation and its massive site clean-up program, and his former role as the US representative on nuclear matters to the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology, nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was ...

. Mike Lawrence retired in December 2010 and was replaced by Professor Paul Howarth, formerly NNL's Director of Science, Technology and Project Delivery. On 1 October 2013, the management contract expired, and the NNL became operated directly by the

. In December 2024 the organisation was renamed United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory, and began using the royal coat of arms.

Other information

* Nexia Solutions won

Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) is a British Charitable organization, charity that aims to save lives and prevent life-changing injuries which occur as a result of accidents. In the past, it has successfully campaigne ...

's (RoSPA) Sector Award five times between 2004 and 2008. * The NNL won the IChemE HFL Excellence in Health and Safety Award in 2008. * The NNL is responsible for the development of the RadBall technology.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:National Nuclear Laboratory, United Kingdom 1996 establishments in the United Kingdom Commercial laboratories Companies established in 1996 Department of Energy and Climate Change Government-owned companies of the United Kingdom Laboratories in the United Kingdom Nuclear research institutes in the United Kingdom Organisations based in Cumbria Science and technology in Cumbria Governmental nuclear organizations

History

Other information

See also

References

External links