Initial construction work has been completed at a new low-carbon research centre in Derby.

The facility will help manufacturers across the Midlands win work in growing low-carbon markets and develop new sustainable technologies.

Senior figures from the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Nuclear AMRC) and partners visited the site at Infinity Park Derby on Wednesday 9 November to mark the topping out of the £20 million building.

The new Nuclear AMRC Midlands facility will provide a permanent base in Derby for the University of Sheffield’s Nuclear AMRC, part of the UK’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult, and a new home for the University of Derby’s Institute for Innovation in Sustainable Engineering (IISE).

Andrew Storer, CEO of the Nuclear AMRC, said: "It's fantastic to see the progress that’s been made on our new facility, especially when the UN climate change conference in Egypt is again highlighting the urgency of reducing emissions from all parts of the global economy. As a nation, we need to build a new generation of low-carbon power plant, and we need to move industry to more sustainable manufacturing and engineering practices.


"The research that will be carried out in this facility will help tackle both of those challenges, and support manufacturers in Derby and beyond to seize the opportunities of the energy transition. I look forward to working with local industry, academic and government partners to deliver sustainable growth in the Midlands for generations to come."

The pilot Nuclear AMRC Midlands opened in 2019 in the iHub on Infinity Park (now the home of the Nuclear Skills Academy led by Rolls-Royce and the University of Derby).

The new 4,300m2 facility will build on its work by expanding the centre’s capabilities in technology areas to help UK manufacturers win work in the nuclear supply chain.

While the Nuclear AMRC's original facility in South Yorkshire focuses on mechanical manufacturing processes for power plant components, Nuclear AMRC Midlands specialises in emerging technology areas including digital engineering, control and instrumentation systems, and additive manufacturing.

The new building, designed by Stephen George + Partners and built by Stepnell, is based around a large open-plan workshop which will host a flexible range of state-of-the-art manufacturing and research equipment, with ten metre ceilings and 50 tonne cranes to allow work on large fabrications and assemblies.

Nuclear AMRC laboratory facilities will include dedicated space for 3D printing and rapid prototyping, virtual reality and visualisation, and equipment qualification. The building will also include dedicated space for engaging with local schools and colleges, to help encourage young people to consider careers in science and engineering.

The University of Derby's IISE will occupy around a quarter of the building. IISE specialises in developing sustainable life-cycle design and manufacturing processes for products, serving a range of sectors from transport to healthcare to help reduce their environmental impact. IISE offers collaborative innovation and research using a range of equipment for design, manufacture and testing, supported by specialist expertise to include advanced manufacturing, computational modelling of materials and structures, life cycle management and data science.