2.6
Quality Partnerships with our Customers and Suppliers
In tackling some of the biggest challenges facing society today and in the future, we need to be prepared on all fronts to deliver what is required.
As an organisation, this means striving for excellence in our operational capacity, execution and delivery so that we can meet the aims of our Focus Areas, and the needs of our customers.
Being agile and efficient. Safe and reliable.
With the new nuclear landscape, we have been creating a culture change in the way we serve our customers and engage our supply chain.
Our Delivering Excellence programme has introduced a new way of thinking and a new approach, helping us create the right environment for sustained success and consistent delivery. This is intrinsic to our purpose – putting value first and maximising our capabilities as a national laboratory for the benefit of all.
For customers, this means moving towards long-lasting partnerships that generate far better outcomes. We have already built the model for this with Sellafield Ltd, with whom we have a lifetime collaboration agreement that has helped us to deliver more, for less, saving taxpayers billions of pounds. We also have a similar arrangement in place with EDF through the Lifetime Enterprise Agreement which was signed in 2017.
With the new nuclear landscape, we have been creating a culture change in the way we serve our customers and engage our supply chain.
By identifying earlier and more accurately the needs of our customers, we will ensure we have the skills, infrastructure capabilities and processes to meet their needs both now and in the future. This includes our commercial and procurement functions as well as programme and project management.
The culture change we have delivered, and are continuing to seek, for customers is driving substantial improvements for our supply chain, helping prepare it for the opportunities and challenges ahead. In particular, by putting our relationships with customers on a longer-term footing, we can do the same for our suppliers, which comprise a significant proportion of SMEs, giving them the certainty they need to grow their businesses whilst driving better quality and value for our customers.
Significant investment over recent years has enhanced the quality of our offer and made us a more efficient, more flexible partner to work with – and this is ongoing. The programmes that we will be delivering in the future are increasing in scale and complexity; our ability to deliver in terms of time, quality and cost will need to be developed accordingly, whilst maintaining our strong track record in safety and security.
Creating Opportunities for UK Businesses
A third
of our work is outsourced to suppliers
£125 million
of our work has been contracted out to industry over the past three financial years
Investing in small businesses: AFCP as a catalyst for expansion and innovation
As delivery lead for AFCP, we have provided a platform for UK manufacturing and engineering businesses to expand and innovate – with more than half of total industry investment from the programme benefiting SMEs.
AFCP’s backing has been transformative for a significant number of businesses. It has helped them innovate to secure their places in future energy markets worldwide, whilst protecting and creating high-skilled jobs around the UK.
Among the SMEs that have benefited is Teer Coatings Ltd in Droitwich, Worcestershire, which despite being heavily involved in UK Research & Development (R&D) over the past decade had struggled to make the shift to production, due to the risks associated with technology scale-up for a business of its size. AFCP provided this crucial springboard – allowing the business to advance its own design and manufacture capability, and use the experience gained through the programme to supply and sell novel machines into new markets.
“Being a supplier to AFCP enabled us to rethink our design and build our manufacturing capability in ways we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to achieve. This opened up new markets to us, both domestically and internationally, and has strengthened our growth as a company.”
Wayne Southall Sales Director
“We have pioneered the development of flash sintering technology in a number of sectors. However, it took the involvement of AFCP to enable the first ever application of flash sintering to nuclear fuels. In doing so, we have grown as a business and been able to sustain even more high-value jobs here in Staffordshire.”
Tim Abbott Business Manager
Stoke-on-Trent based SME Lucideon Ltd has also brought world-leading materials technology expertise to AFCP. Through collaboration with NNL and the University of Manchester, Lucideon has deployed its unique flash sintering technology on advanced fuel formulations. This support has enabled it to expand its offerings and target new international markets, with confidence that this will lead to future deployment and manufacture.
Strategic advice, technical services and expert support
Our lifetime collaboration agreement with Sellafield Ltd has put our relationship on a new footing, creating a step change in how we work together. It has allowed us to move from a transactional, project-by-project approach to one where we can take a step back and plan work strategically together over the medium and long-term. This benefits everyone, including the UK taxpayer, by driving cost savings, greater efficiency and exciting innovation.
Given the importance of underpinning science to the whole nuclear sector, committing to a long-term working framework has clear benefits for technical services. But beyond this, our people are also able to build diversity of thought by cross-collaboration and through increased staff secondments between NNL and Sellafield Ltd.
Perhaps the single biggest impact of this approach is on skills and capabilities. Together, we are working to address the immense workforce challenge for environmental restoration over the coming generations. There is an urgent, national imperative to grow these specialist skills and our partnership with Sellafield Ltd allows us to jointly tackle this.
“Having a long-term partnership set up with NNL means a long-term commitment to jobs, skills and capabilities, ensuring that the UK is ‘match fit’ for the ongoing environmental restoration work we need to achieve our purpose of creating a clean and safe environment for future generations. Programmes like ARC and Game Changers are just two examples of the added benefits this one-team approach can bring for the UK nuclear sector and supply chain.”
Duncan Steel Chief Technology Officer, Sellafield Ltd
We have close and established relationships with our customers, including:
Sellafield Ltd
We work in partnership with Sellafield to develop innovative new capabilities, helping them to find safer, quicker and more cost-effective ways to restore the site environment.
EDF
EDF operates the UK’s civil nuclear reactor fleet and our work for them supports the continued operation of their reactors.
Rolls-Royce and the Ministry of Defence
We provide capability to support the UK’s submarine operations.
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
We provide a range of services, with particular emphasis on the disposition of fuels and special nuclear materials.
BEIS
We have delivered a number of significant programmes with BEIS, including AFCP.
The other businesses and organisations we work with in the UK include Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd, Westinghouse UK and Urenco UK Ltd. Globally we have customers in the USA, Japan and Europe, and we work with overseas governments and utilities as well as other national laboratories.