Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

The UKAEA Materials Research Facility has been funded by EPSRC (as part of the National Nuclear User Facility initiative - NNUF) in response to the UK Governments 2013 Nuclear Industry Strategy. The purpose of the MRF is to provide facilities to process and analyse materials that is too radioactive for university laboratories but do not need to be on a licensed site. It has been agreed that the MRF will have investment from EPSRC as part of the Sir Henry Royce Institute initiative. In 2016/17 these investments will concentrate on mechanical and thermo-physical testing and sample preparation equipment, and adaptation of these for use in hot cells and shielded environments. These investments are in line with requirements identified by universities and industry at the MRF User Workshop held in 2015.

Summary For a lot of academic and industrial research into nuclear energy, using NNUF and other facilities, it is important that neutron-irradiated material of known provenance is available. Getting samples irradiated in reactors is both time-consuming and expensive, and as much use as possible should be made of existing material. There is a wide range of surveillance and other samples in the UK, owned by organisations like the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), EDF Energy and Rolls-Royce. Establishing either a central or distributed archive of a selection of this material that can be accessed by researchers has been identified as a priority by the UK Government's Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board (NIRAB). The archive is the second item in the table of favoured investments in EPSRC's NNUF Phase 2 call. While the Irradiated Materials Archive Group (IMAG), comprising universities, National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL), UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), NDA and other stakeholders, has developed this concept, further work is required before the key stakeholders are in a position to decide if and how to proceed. Options could range from leaving the material where it presently is and having systems that enable individuals to ascertain the material and pedigree available, and request samples for their research, to bringing samples from locations in the UK to dedicated stores at Sellafield (higher activities) and UKAEA's Culham site (low-activity). It is, therefore, proposed that the archive is taken forward in two stages. Stage 1 is an option study and the subject of this proposal. At the end of Stage 1, key stakeholders - including EPSRC, the owners of the material and the managers of proposed stores - would decide whether to proceed and with which option. Stage 2 would require a new proposal for funding based on cost estimates established in Stage 1. However, an upper bound for the latter is indicated in this proposal. Important considerations in Stage 1 include: ascertaining what material samples are available and which are of interest to UK researchers; logistical issues including ownership and liability, transport and waste disposal; and the requirements for the archive database(s). An attractive option for the last of these may be for NDA and other owners of material to manage their own databases in a way that permits users to interrogate these and request samples. UKAEA, NNL and the University of Bristol (UoB) propose to undertake Stage 1 and produce an options appraisal for EPSRC and its NNUF Management Team, having consulted all stakeholders. This would take 19 months and require £524,000. Wide-ranging support for this proposal is confirmed by letters from Dame Sue Ion (first chair of NIRAB), the CEO of the Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials and AWE. The NDA has been consulted in the drafting of this proposal and expressed its willingness to collaborate in the project, as has Rolls-Royce in its letter of support. The US has had a national archive for some years and learning from its experience would be part of this project; a letter confirming the value of the archive is from the Director of Nuclear Science User Facilities at Idaho National Laboratory.

CCFE's mission is to harness the fusion process that powers the sun by using magnetic fields in order to develop a large-scale carbon-free energy source and position the UK to be a leading provider in the international fusion energy economy. Fusion has the potential to be an important component of the portfolio of measures needed to ensure a secure, environmentally responsible, supply of energy. CCFE is a major player in a global collaboration aimed at producing a commercial-scale fusion demonstration reactor (DEMO), which will be preceded by the demonstration of the first self-sustaining plasmas in ITER, the next-step international fusion experiment under construction in France. CCFE operates the world's largest tokamak, JET, under contract to EURATOM, as well as being pioneers of the spherical tokamak, with an exciting upgrade to the UK facility MAST becoming operational in 2017. JET is unarguably the best facility for preparation for ITER, whilst MAST Upgrade is a uniquely capable machine for understanding and developing ways to exhaust the heat in DEMO. This strength in tokamak physics is complemented by growing, internationally-leading programmes in materials science, fusion technology and remote maintenance. The CCFE strategy is aligned with the EU fusion programme, with all the science and technology benefits that brings, as well as access to facilities and substantial EU funding leveraged by our UK funding. The JET contribution supported by this grant (~£9M pa) leverages the JET Operating Contract worth ~£45M pa. Furthermore, we expect the remainder of the programme to leverage nearly 40% extra funding from the EU. Whilst the successful operation of ITER remains the first major goal of the fusion community, there are big issues for realising fusion electricity in materials and technology. These are also the areas with greater synergies with other fields. Reflecting this, the UK has invested ~£10M via NNUF (National Nuclear User Facility) in a nuclear Materials Research Facility (MRF), opened at CCFE in 2016. The MRF is aligned with, and will receive funding from, the Sir Henry Royce Institute materials initiative. Fusion and fission materials science and technology capabilities have grown in both theory & modelling, experiments and manufacturing. We are growing a programme in materials technology (including advanced manufacturing and component prototyping) with several universities and industrial partners. The Oxford City Deal has provided ~£10M for a new building for the centre for Remote Applications in Challenging Environments (RACE), opened in 2016, building on expertise from maintenance of JET for spin-out to other industries as well as keeping the UK at the forefront of fusion remote maintenance. Further opportunities arising from collaborations with non-fusion fields such as fission, aerospace and data-intensive computing through H2020 projects are being exploited, to mutual benefit. The four main drivers of our programme are (i) to ensure a leading position for the UK in the first burning plasmas in ITER; (ii) to develop integrated nuclear fusion power plant designs; (iii) to innovate in order to drive down the capital and operational cost of fusion reactors; and (iv) to exploit synergies to further UK interests and develop UK skills and growth. Finally, we will maintain our excellent apprentice training (the Oxford Advanced Skills centre is due to open in 2017) and PhD supervision, whilst increasing our post-doc intake to provide a career path for development of the ITER generation, benefitting from the top students trained in the UK.