This is currently one of the most exciting and dynamic periods for UK nuclear science & engineering since the 1950s. Inter alia, both new reactor build (essential to meet climate change targets) and the decommissioning of the UK's legacy nuclear sites (a 120 year, £121 bn programme) are driving forward, BEIS are investing heavily in the new national nuclear innovation programme and the sector deal for the industry has just been published. The already acute need for skilled nuclear scientists and engineers is therefore increasing and will continue to do so into the long term. To address these needs we propose a CDT in Nuclear Energy (GREEN), a partnership between 5 of the UK's leading nuclear universities and 12 industry partners, addressing EPSRC priority area 19: Nuclear Fission & Fusion for Energy. Evolving from the very successful Next Generation Nuclear (NGN) CDT, GREEN will deliver comprehensive doctoral training across the whole fission fuel cycle as well as in allied areas of fusion. Inspired by changes in external drivers and feedback from alumni, employers and funders, GREEN will offer both academically- and industrially- based research pathways, linked to enhanced employability training. We will further widen our already strong industry engagement by inclusion of new external partners, and align closely with other national and international activities, including other proposed CDTs. Experience from NGN suggests we will be able to leverage EPSRC support to give a typical cohort size of 15-20 students. Remarkably, using the leverage of 40 studentships from EPSRC, GREEN has already secured a further 47 studentships from Industry and Academia, ensuring a minimum number of 87 students in the GREEN CDT.

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 proposed research will develop generic knowledge in the field of decommissioning engineering that can be used to solve problems associated with nuclear decommissioning. The work will be carried out under the auspices of the Dalton Institute of the University of Manchester and thus a multi-disciplinary approach to the research will be facilitated. Existing nuclear facilities (eg. Magnox, AGR Station, Reprocessing plant, medical waste) present significant challenges with respect to waste management and decommissioning. The research programme will expand and enhance the skill base in nuclear engineering and science in order to meet these challenges. Additionally, the research will provide valuable information for use in future generations of nuclear facilities so as to reduce decommissioning and waste management problems.The impact of the new Chair appointment will be enhanced by interactions with the already established links with industry and in particular with BNFL. Furthermore, the appointee will contribute to the training of research scientists, in an area of research where the demands of industry substantially exceed the availability of individuals with appropriate expertise.