The Nuclear Fuel Fund will seek to award grants to projects that can increase the UK’s domestic nuclear fuel sector. The goal is to reduce the need for foreign imports and create the material used in nuclear power stations to generate electricity, with funding going towards designing and developing new facilities.
Up to £75 million in grants will be awarded to support the development costs of investments into new nuclear fuel capabilities in the UK, supporting a range of reactor types and sizes, including small and advanced modular reactors.
Government backing is there to encourage private sector co-investment into the projects and ensure the UK builds on its legacy of nuclear fuel innovation and production.
The government is asking parties to register their interest in bidding for funding and inviting further information on the sector’s investment needs. It is also inviting nuclear stakeholders who are not planning to bid for the fund to provide information from their experience that will help to mature the fund design ahead of opening the bid window in Autumn 2022.
See: Government fund to accelerate nuclear fuel supply opens – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)