NPL said the new facility "will play a critical role in the safe and secure operation and continued development of the UK's nuclear energy, defence and fusion research sectors". It will provide "all-important traceability in terms of established safety protocols and stringent regulatory compliance that ensures new-build reactors can help drive the rapid and safe expansion of nuclear power in the UK".
It noted that the new system allows the UK government to continue to "provide an enduring and resilient measurement infrastructure, ensuring that measurements can always be made in the UK with integrity and consistency", as set out in the government's 2022 UK Measurement Strategy for the National Measurement System.
The facility consists of a new particle accelerator and is one of only a few known facilities worldwide that offers precision traceable neutron standards.
The new accelerator system will be a 2.0 MV Coaxial VHC Tandetron manufactured by High Voltage Engineering Europa BV of the Netherlands, the same company that manufactured the current KN3000 Van de Graaff accelerator over 60 years ago.
NPL said the upgraded neutron facility addresses a number of current, future and emerging needs in the nuclear sector, including: the characterisation of new instrumentation and detectors required to ensure the UK's nuclear infrastructure and future reactors operate safely and efficiently; providing the expertise and facilities to enable the characterisation of neutron diagnostics, neutronics benchmark and validation experiments and nuclear cross section and decay-data measurement, to support the work at UK-based world-leading fusion research organisations and their supply chains; producing both monoenergetic and thermal neutron fields for UK Defence and Security; and the characterisation and calibration of new area survey instruments and personal dosemeter products to assure the safety of workers within the nuclear sector.
The upgrade has been funded by the former Department for Business for Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) PSRE Infrastructure Fund.
"By extending the UK's capability in neutron standards and device calibration which leads to improved accuracy and direct measurement in place of extrapolated data and therefore helping to accelerate work on advanced nuclear technologies, we are ensuring the UK is leading in this field," said NPL CEO Peter Thompson.
"This is an exciting time for UK nuclear science and this facility is a concrete example of that," added Michael Bunce, Senior Scientist and Technical Lead at NPL. "With this machine we will be able to continue to provide standards to UK and international customers with greater efficiency and reliability whilst extending our research into new areas such as nuclear data measurements in support of fusion."
Last week, the British government launched a roadmap for reaching its ambition for the UK to have 24 GWe of nuclear generating capacity by 2050, representing about 25% of the country's projected electricity demand. The plans include next steps for exploring a large-scale nuclear power plant as well as small modular reactors. The roadmap also includes a government ambition to secure 3–7 GW worth of investment decisions every five years from 2030 to 2044 on new nuclear projects.
Nuclear Minister Andrew Bowie said: "We are reviving our nuclear industry to deliver net-zero and secure our energy independence, with plans to build new large and small-scale reactors. These upgrades to National Physical Laboratory's neutron facility will enable the safe and efficient operation of our new projects, as we ramp up clean and reliable nuclear power."
