Over $17 million has been awarded to the University of Manchester to lead a five-year program exploring more sustainable means of producing the graphite that’s critical to nuclear reactors while developing ways to recycle irradiated waste.
According to a report by Interesting Engineering, the program is called Enabling a Lifecycle Approach to Graphite for Advanced Modular Reactors (ENLIGHT), and it will focus on fostering a local supply chain for the material to support the deployment of next-gen nuclear energy in the U.K.
The university will bring its world-leading expertise in the field in collaboration with Oxford, Plymouth, and Loughborough universities to explore solutions in support of this energy resource.
“Nuclear graphite plays a vital role in the safety and efficiency of advanced reactors, yet the U.K. currently relies on overseas suppliers for this material,” Principal Investigator Professor Abbie Jones, chair in nuclear graphite at the University of Manchester, said in a statement.
“ENLIGHT will lay the foundation to reestablish a U.K.-based graphite supply chain while developing sustainable solutions to recycle and reuse irradiated graphite — transforming a growing waste stream into a valuable resource,” Jones added. “This programme will reduce waste, strengthen energy security, and support the country’s net zero ambitions.”
The announcement explained that graphite is a critical component in many next-generation advanced modular reactors, which are key in delivering 24 gigawatts of nuclear power in the U.K. by 2050.
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Although graphite accounts for around one-third of the cost in building new reactors, the country currently relies on imports to meet its demand.
In addition, ENLIGHT will pioneer new approaches to recycling the more than 110,000 tons of irradiated graphite in storage and develop new production methods for creating stable, high-performance materials for future AMRs.
Nuclear fission is the process in which uranium atoms are split into two smaller nuclei, releasing large amounts of energy.
Since the fuel supply for these reactors is finite, it’s not a renewable energy source, but it is cleaner than using dirty fuels. The fission process doesn’t release any planet-warming gases, although the building and decommissioning processes of nuclear plants aren’t free from pollution.
A lifecycle study estimated that nuclear energy releases a similar amount of CO2 emissions per unit (29 tons of CO2 per gigawatt hour) as wind energy (26 tons of CO2 per gigawatt hour) and just one-third that of solar power (85 tons of CO2 per gigawatt hour).
In stark contrast, the pollution from dirty fuels such as natural gas and brown coal ranges from 499 tons to 1,054 tons of CO2 per gigawatt hour, respectively.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe has stated that nuclear power has helped the region avoid 74 gigatons of planet-warming carbon pollution over the past 50 years, which is the equivalent of two years’ worth of global energy-related emissions.
Nuclear power is an important component in diversifying our energy resources and can work alongside renewable sources such as solar and wind to help reduce pollution and meet our climate goals.
“This project is not just about scientific discovery; it’s about pioneering sustainable solutions for nuclear energy, turning waste into a valuable resource and bolstering the U.K.’s energy security for decades to come,” Dr. Katie Jones, lecturer in environmental and analytical chemistry at the University of Plymouth, said in the statement.
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