Cases built to survive the committee that has to approve them.
Government departments, developers, investors, operators and suppliers commission this work. NCL’s team includes former national laboratory programme leaders, policy advisers, fuel cycle specialists and techno-economic analysts, working across the United Kingdom, France, Canada and the Middle East.
What the practice covers
Corporate and programme strategyWhere an organisation or programme is going, and whether the route holdsBusiness cases and investment logicIncluding HM Treasury five-case standardsPolicy and regulatory frameworksFrameworks built to survive contact with the industry they apply toNuclear fuel and the fuel cycleFuel supply strategy, enrichment business cases and advanced fuel policyMarket and economic analysisWhat the market will support, and at what costMarket entry and nuclear readinessWhat a nuclear client will require before a supplier is credibleSupply chain assuranceLicensees assuring the supply chains they depend on
Corporate and programme strategy
Where an organisation or programme is going, and whether the route holds
Strategy for nuclear organisations and programmes, tested against the industry as it behaves rather than as the plan assumes.
ExampleTwo years of technical and strategic advice on secondment to a central government research office.
Business cases and investment logic
Including HM Treasury five-case standards
Business cases, funding applications and investment logic to the standard that committees, departments and investors will test.
ExampleA complete, compliant UK government funding application for a molten salt reactor developer, including the economic assessment of a multi-billion-pound deployment programme.
Policy and regulatory frameworks
Frameworks built to survive contact with the industry they apply to
Policy development and regulatory framework design for departments, public bodies and newcomer nuclear states, including national nuclear governance built from first principles.
ExampleService on the government expert group whose recommendations preceded £230m of financing for a UK SMR programme.
Nuclear fuel and the fuel cycle
Fuel supply strategy, enrichment business cases and advanced fuel policy
Fuel supply and acquisition strategy, enrichment plant business cases, advanced fuel policy and the security, regulatory and market questions around HALEU and advanced enriched fuels.
ExampleA HALEU acquisition roadmap and enrichment plant business case for a Western European national programme, submitted to the national presidency. Co-authorship of the report on advanced enriched fuels that preceded the UK future fuels investment decision.
Market and economic analysis
What the market will support, and at what cost
Market sizing, techno-economic analysis, levelised cost benchmarking and the economics of deployment, for vendors, investors and government.
ExampleA UK market entry assessment for an international SMR and AMR vendor: three preferred sites shortlisted and base-case economics produced.
Market entry and nuclear readiness
What a nuclear client will require before a supplier is credible
For companies entering nuclear: what the sector will demand, how to qualify, ISO 19443 and certification readiness, bid strategy and tender readiness, and reducing the nuclear premium. UK, French and Middle East market entry in both directions.
ExampleTechnical and managerial support that took a competent engineering contractor with no nuclear experience through its first nuclear bid and safety case.
Supply chain assurance
Licensees assuring the supply chains they depend on
Supplier assessment and qualification, counterfeit and fraudulent item controls, and the gap analysis that tells a licensee whether a supplier can deliver what the requirement says.
ExampleProcess capability architect for the national supplier assessment tool used across the UK nuclear supply chain.
Case studyAdvice that preceded £230m of government financingAn NCL expert served on the government expert group on financing small modular reactors, interviewing vendors and analysing assessment bottlenecks, site availability and supply chain need. The recommendations were published to Parliament and £230m of government financing followed.
Leading the practice
Practice director To be announced
A service director is accountable for the standard of every deliverable in this practice and for the people who produce them. The consulting partner who takes an assignment stays with the client for the life of the work, and draws on this practice and the others around it as the assignment requires.
Projects and programmesRelated practiceOrganisational capability and performanceRelated practiceWaste, decommissioning and legacyRelated practice