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The nuclear effort in Sheffield has included the AWE placing staff directly at the AMRC, and the procurement of machinery to make prototype components and analyse uranium. It also appears to be the biggest research contract in AMRC\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
Sheffield has a long history of anti-nuclear activism, with the council declaring itself nuclear-free in the 1980s. But there has been no public discussion of the university\u2019s participation in this work.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1752733454_969_image-1.png\")
The Design Centre at the AMRC. Image: AMRC<\/p>\n
Very little is known about the Astraea programme. But a tip off by a single source earlier this year led The Tribune to uncover a series of documents which proved the AMRC\u2019s involvement. They included minutes of meetings, a job advertisement and procurement notices linked to a secret project code.<\/p>\n
We were also able to establish via planning notices that the project is based in the AMRC\u2019s Design Centre. When The Tribune visited, there was minimal evidence of security in place beyond some cameras, with no one stopping us from looking around and photographing some of the recent changes to the building.<\/p>\n
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AWE operates out of an ultra-secure site in Aldermaston, Berkshire, protected by dogs and armed guards. Last year, AWE announced that it had \u201ccommenced work on a sovereign replacement warhead, as part of an evolutionary cycle that ensures we have an in-service warhead that can be safely assured from design to disposal.\u201d<\/p>\n
The AMRC told us last week: \u201cOur collaboration with partners in the defence sector helps them to overcome sustainability and productivity challenges, and support UK security and sovereign capabilities. All research projects undergo rigorous oversight, including comprehensive due diligence, adherence to national legislation and health and safety regulations.\u201d They also stressed they were not making components \u201cfor deployment\u201d.<\/p>\n
David Cullen, former head of research body the Nuclear Information Service, and a policy expert on the UK\u2019s nuclear weapons programme, said: \u201cThe evidence gathered by The Tribune clearly shows that AMRC is working on uranium components in collaboration with AWE. I have no doubt that the University of Sheffield is a partner in the early stages of the Astraea programme. I think both AWE and AMRC owe the public an explanation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The journey to report this story included anonymous messages from insiders, secret project codes, uranium, and the moment we discovered the \u2018secure cell\u2019 in Sheffield. We will be publishing a longer read on our months-long investigation, setting out the evidence in full, and explaining how we came to learn that Sheffield was playing a key role in a super-secret national security project. Expect it in your inbox at 12pm today (17th July).<\/p>\n
Do you know more about this story?<\/strong> Send us an e-mail<\/a>, or you can contact us via the secure Signal messaging app at thetribune.11<\/p>\n To support our investigative journalism and read all of our coverage about this story in the coming days, please join us as a paying member. It costs just \u00a34.95 a month for the first three months.<\/p>\n