United Kingdom: AREVA and The University of Manchester’s Dalton Nuclear Institute announce collaboration

AREVA, the global nuclear power industry leader and a major player in the renewable energy sector, has signed a collaboration agreement with the Dalton Nuclear Institute, The University of Manchester’s world-leading centre for nuclear research and education.

As a first step, AREVA is to sponsor two PhDs in Materials research. This will be followed by other collaboration and participation in a pan-European network of academic nuclear research. The doctorates will involve studies in France, Manchester and also in West Cumbria where the University has established the Dalton Cumbrian Facility with experimental capabilities for radiation science research.

Alain-Pierre Raynaud, Chairman of AREVA UK, said “AREVA now has a major presence in the UK both in the design and construction of new nuclear power stations and in the treatment of used fuel. We are delighted to be linking up with the UK’s largest academic centre of nuclear expertise and look forward to expanding our links as part of growing Anglo-French nuclear collaboration.”

Professor Colin Bailey, Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences said, “The University of Manchester is delighted to sign the collaboration agreement with AREVA, with the partnership underpinning the research and development required to deliver the global need in civil nuclear”.

Professor Andrew Sherry, Director of the Dalton Nuclear Institute at The University of Manchester, said: “We are delighted to work in partnership with AREVA on research and skills development relating to civil nuclear power. We look forward to building a strong collaboration in which students benefit from the outstanding nuclear expertise and research facilities at both AREVA and Manchester.”

Martha Heitzmann, Senior Executive Vice President R&D, said “AREVA is pleased to enter into this partnership with the Dalton Nuclear Institute, which we appreciate for its scientific and technological excellence as well as for its R&D business model. The new R&D facilities at the University of Manchester and at the Dalton Cumbrian Facility are world-class, and compliment our own facilities”.

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The University of Manchester, a member of the Russell Group, is the most popular university in the UK. It has 22 academic schools and hundreds of specialist research groups undertaking pioneering multi-disciplinary teaching and research of worldwide significance. According to the results of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, The University of Manchester is now one of the country’s major research universities, rated third in the UK in terms of ‘research power’. The University had an annual income of £788 million in 2009/10.

The Dalton Nuclear Institute, winner of the 2011 Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for its nuclear capability, provides the focus for Manchester’s capabilities across the full range of nuclear science, engineering, policy and business. The Institute’s new Dalton Cumbrian Facility (DCF) will deliver world-leading research and transfer new knowledge and capability to industry with a specific focus on radiation science and engineering decommissioning.