The UK needs to manufacture its own nuclear graphite—a specialised material that makes up roughly one-third of the cost of advanced modular reactors (AMRs)—or risk losing energy independence and falling behind on net-zero targets. This matters because the UK currently imports all of its nuclear graphite, and global demand is rising. Existing reactors that use graphite are retiring by 2028, and the next generation of AMRs will operate at nearly double the temperature (900 °C versus 450 °C), requiring entirely new graphite designs. Without investment, the UK will lose decades of expertise and face billions of pounds in waste storage costs from irradiated graphite, which currently must go to geological disposal. If ENLIGHT succeeds, it will transform irradiated graphite from a waste problem into a reusable resource. The programme aims to design new graphites that resist degradation under extreme heat and neutron bombardment, develop recycling processes for decommissioned reactor graphite, and extend the lifetime of graphite in AMR cores. This could reduce the UK’s radioactive waste volumes, cut storage costs, and secure a domestic supply chain for a material critical to clean energy, process heat, and hydrogen production. It also trains the next generation of graphite engineers, preserving a national capability that otherwise faces extinction.
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The UK aims to deliver 24 GW of new nuclear power by 2050, including a large proportion from new Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs), with UK commitments to develop High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) technology and worldwide interests in Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs). Nuclear graphite is vital for HTGRs and many MSR designs, making up approximately one-third of the overall build cost. Nuclear graphite is an export-controlled material currently manufactured overseas. Worldwide demand for nuclear graphite is rising, potentially leaving the UK without sufficient supply. Without UK investment in graphite, delivering net zero and future sovereign energy security are at risk. The UK led the world in graphite reactor technologies evidenced by the success of the Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor fleet, reaching the end of its lifetime by 2028. The extreme temperature demands of AMRs (~900 °C), relative to current nuclear reactors (450 °C), requires new innovations for graphite design and production to ensure future AMR operations remain safe and efficient. Developing an advanced lifecycle for nuclear graphite is key in delivering sustainable energy from AMRs. Neutron irradiation of graphite in reactor operations affects its mechanical performance and activates impurities creating long-lived radioisotopes resulting in a waste stream that requires geological disposal. Significant volumes of this waste already exist, and the expected AMR deployment will increase this substantially, costing the UK taxpayer £billions in storage and disposal, unless new graphite management strategies are developed. The time for graphite research investment is now. Data to underpin design code development, regulatory assessment, and operation of AMRs is scarce. Without significant UK investment in graphite knowledge and skills transfer, there is a substantial risk of losing many decades of experience which will be essential in supporting AMR developments. ENLIGHT offers a pathway for the UK to repurpose and upskill its unique position as a global knowledge and innovation centre for graphite. The overall aim of ENLIGHT is to design and produce sustainable graphite materials for AMR deployment and transform irradiated graphite from a waste stream into a valuable resource. ENLIGHT will deliver this aim across the following three intersecting research programmes: Sustainable Graphite - Develop processes for the decontamination, novel recycling, and reuse of irradiated graphite to minimise volumes arising from AMR deployment and provide design guidance on new materials. Graphite Selection & Design - Design new graphites to resist mechanical and neutron irradiation degradation in AMR conditions. Graphite Performance - Understand the behaviour of these new graphites in AMR conditions and maximise graphite lifetimes under irradiation, in unfamiliar AMR gaseous and liquid coolants. ENLIGHT will maintain the UK as world leader in nuclear technology vital for AMR fleets that now offer the greatest opportunity for energy independence and deep decarbonisation (i.e. process heat and hydrogen) to meet net zero targets. Our programme of research, collaboration, and skills development will expand and advance the UK graphite research community, nurturing the next generation of graphite engineers and scientists, essential to AMR technology advancement. ENLIGHT will also reduce the volume of graphite legacy waste and support decommissioning of current reactors. By working together with waste custodians, a graphite manufacturer, key industrial and regulatory stakeholders, ENLIGHT will determine what infrastructure and skills are needed to recycle graphite from decommissioned UK reactors.
Abbie Jones (Principal Investigator)Clint Sharrad (Co-Investigator)Dong Liu (Co-Investigator)Graham Hall (Co-Investigator)James Marrow (Co-Investigator)Jonathan Hinks (Co-Investigator)Katie Jones (Co-Investigator)Kenny Jolley (Co-Investigator)Paul Mummery (Co-Investigator)
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