The Government’s Low Carbon Industrial Strategy, published in July 2009, gave a commitment to ‘establish a Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre that combines the knowledge, practices and expertise of manufacturing companies with the capability of universities’.

Following bids from some of the UK’s leading universities to develop the centre, it was announced in December 2009 that the Nuclear AMRC would be led by the University of Sheffield and The University of Manchester, with Rolls-Royce as lead industrial partner. Other founding partners are Areva, Westinghouse, Sheffield Forgemasters and Tata Steel.

The establishment of the Nuclear AMRC was primarily supported by a £15 million grant from the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills and £7 million from the regional development agency Yorkshire Forward. The European Regional Development Fund also supported the development of the centre’s permanent home on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP), South Yorkshire.

BIS and the Northwest Development Agency (NWDA) invested a further £8 million to expand the nuclear research laboratories at the University of Manchester’s Dalton Nuclear Institute.

Development of the Nuclear AMRC has been led by a team drawn from both universities and industrial partners. Initial work focused on developing and initiating the work delivery programme, identifying industry needs, building the industrial consortium, and developing the centre’s capabilities and resources.

The Nuclear AMRC took possession of its facility on the Advanced Manufacturing Park in October 2011, with an official launch planned for summer 2012. The Nuclear AMRC Laboratory in Manchester opened the same month.

The Nuclear AMRC is now open for business.