Member Article

£15m Nuclear supply chain fund launched

A new £15 million fund designed to stimulate activity in the Nuclear fuel supply chain is to be opened up to businesses in the North East.

It is hoped that companies from the manufacturing, engineering, IT and software sectors will be attracted to the opportunities and funding available to those looking to set up Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) and R&D programmes.

An event at the University of Sunderland will help businesses find out more, and keynote speaker Stuart Johnston, manufacturing manager at Sellafield’s ion exchange effluent plant, will outline the benefits of working in the fast-growing nuclear sector.

Business development manager for the University of Sunderland, Mark Donnelly said: “The breakfast event is a fantastic, informal way for local businesses to come along and find out more about the opportunities available in the fast-growing nuclear sector.

“The funding available is designed to stimulate activity in the sector and encourage businesses to work with university experts to develop innovative new ideas or projects.”

One of the organisations supporting the event is Semta, the sector skills council for science, engineering and manufacturing technologies, which helps to facilitate Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) between the University’s graduates and local businesses.

Patrick Hore, business partner for Semta who will be at the event, said: “KTPs are designed to enable companies to improve their competitiveness, productivity and performance through the formation of a partnership with an academic institution.

“A graduate is embedded within a business, recruited to work on a specific project, varying in length from six months to 3 years.

“The nuclear fuel supply chain is one of the fastest growing sectors in the region and events like this are a fantastic way to find out more about the many opportunities available to enable businesses to benefit from the funding and expertise on offer.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .