Amec Foster Wheeler has won a £2.9 million contract to lead a new key nuclear power research programme for the UK Government.

The deal will see the consultancy establish a UK Digital Reactor Design partnership using virtual engineering and high-performance computing to enhance the techniques used to design reactors and optimise their performance.

The company will be supported by partners and sub-contractors such as the University of Liverpool's Virtual Engineering Centre, the Hartree Centre, National Nuclear Laboratory, Rolls-Royce, EDF Energy, the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London.

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Richard Harrington MP, Energy Minister at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said: "I'm very pleased to have awarded virtual engineering, structural materials and nuclear design codes and standards contracts to Amec Foster Wheeler. Partnering with leading UK organisations in the nuclear industry will have a big part to play in helping deliver on our department's big initiatives, including the Clean Growth Plan and the Industrial Strategy."

Clive White, President of Amec Foster Wheeler's Clean Energy business, said: "We will be bringing together valuable expertise from industry and academia and combining the latest digital techniques, such as virtual engineering, with advanced multi-physics modelling and simulation expertise. The aim of the project is to enhance design capability and assist UK industry to play a crucial role in our future energy security."

(LM/MH)