10 new National Nuclear User Facility projects funded
Ten new National Nuclear User Facility (NNUF) projects in the UK have received funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
The NNUF offers free access opportunity for any UK-based university researcher (or employee of other organisations eligible to apply for UK Research and Innovation funding), and their international collaborators.
The new programmes build on existing NNUF facilities, while others represent the first NNUF investment in an institution (Leeds and Bangor). These projects commenced on 1st October 2021 and will run until 30th September 2023.
The Phase 2a facilities comprise:
- RadIAEM (an analytical electron microscope with in situ capability for beta, gamma active materials), to be located at the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA)'s Culham site
- MUFFIN (MUltiphase Fluid Flow In Nuclear Systems) at Leeds University
- BUFFF (Bangor University Fuel Fabrication Facility)
- A National Focused Ion Beam Facility for Active Materials located in the UKAEA Materials Research Facility
- NUFRETH (Nuclear Fission Reactor Thermal-Hydraulics), to be located at UKAEA's Culham site
- FaRMS (Facility for Radioactive Materials Surfaces) at Bristol University
- FaSCiNATe (Facility for the Structural Characterisation of Materials for Nuclear Applications Operating at High Temperatures) at UKAEA's Culham site
- PLEIADES (Platform for Long-term Experimental Investigation of Alteration in Disposal Environments and Storage) at the University of Sheffield
- Development of an in-situ characterisation facility for both proton and neutron irradiation at Birmingham University. This facility builds on the existing NNUF-funded High Flux Accelerator-Driven Neutron Facility
- EMITS (Enhancing Materials Irradiations through Thoughtful Shielding) at the University of Manchester's Dalton Cumbrian Facility
The new investments will be available for access under the NNUF access scheme when they open.
