In Short

• £13m ENLIGHT programme launched to improve the lifecycle of graphite in nuclear energy.
• Universities of Manchester, Oxford, Plymouth, and Loughborough leading the five-year project.
• Focus on sustainable graphite supply and recycling irradiated graphite waste.

The UK has launched a £13 million nuclear programme called ENLIGHT (Enabling a Lifecycle Approach to Graphite for Advanced Modular Reactors).

Its focus is on graphite, a material that plays a critical role in nuclear energy but also poses challenges. Graphite is essential for building next-generation nuclear reactors, yet the UK currently imports all of its supply and is left with a large amount of radioactive graphite waste from older reactors.

The programme will run for five years and is led by the University of Manchester, working with the University of Oxford, Plymouth, and Loughborough.

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It is funded by an £8.2 million grant from UK Research and Innovation, with an extra £5 million from industry partners. Together, the aim is to create a sustainable, secure supply of graphite and to find innovative ways to recycle irradiated graphite waste.

The University of Oxford will lead one of the three main research strands: designing new types of graphite materials that can survive extreme conditions inside Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs).

These AMRs are expected to play a bigger role in the UK’s plan to deliver 24GW of new nuclear power by 2050, supporting the country’s net zero goals. Graphite is not only essential for AMRs but also represents around one-third of reactor build costs, making it both economically and strategically important.

Oxford’s team, led by Professor James Marrow and Associate Professor Dong Liu, will use advanced techniques such as Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, 3D X-ray imaging, and deep learning analysis to study how graphite behaves under radiation and stress.

Their research will create computer-based models to predict graphite performance over time and help design recycled and sustainable materials that can replace imported graphite.

By focusing on both the creation of advanced graphite and the recycling of old graphite waste, ENLIGHT takes a full lifecycle approach. This means it does not just look at new reactor design, but also at how to reduce the UK’s radioactive waste problem.

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In doing so, the programme aims to improve energy security, support the UK’s role as a leader in nuclear innovation, and strengthen its ability to deliver clean, low-carbon energy for the future.

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Source: University of Oxford