The Nuclear AMRC operates extensive research, production and business support facilities in South Yorkshire and Manchester.
South Yorkshire
The centre’s core facility is an 8,000 sq m building on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP), on the boundary of Sheffield and Rotherham. The building was designed by Bond Bryan Architects, and is located alongside the established University of Sheffield AMRC with Boeing.
The Nuclear AMRC is based around a large workshop area, with dedicated space for machining, robotics and automation; assembly; welding and heat treatment; cladding; and non-destructive evaluation (NDE).
The building also features accommodation over three stories, including laboratory and technical support space, an immersive virtual reality room for assembly research and training, and office space and secure meeting rooms.
Work at the Nuclear AMRC focuses on metals engineering and does not involve nuclear critical aspects such as fuels or other radioactive materials.
Manchester
The Nuclear AMRC has dedicated laboratory facilities within the Dalton Nuclear Institute at The University of Manchester, plus access to the Institute’s extensive manufacturing, testing and analytical resources.
The Nuclear AMRC Laboratory is based in the former Royce Laboratory, part of the University’s Sackville Street building. This facility has undergone an £8m expansion and refurbishment, backed by BIS and the Northwest Development Agency (NWDA).
The new facility includes a range of state-of-the-art equipment including machining, cutting and welding centres; tensile testing machines and autoclaves; and electron and x-ray analytical facilities.
The Nuclear AMRC Laboratory focuses on three key areas: new materials and processing, including cutting; welding and joining; and surface technology.
Research in each area is underpinned by detailed analytical characterisation, thermo-mechanical testing in nuclear environments, and modelling and simulation, to make sure that all technologies are optimised and appropriate for manufacturing nuclear components.
