Nuclear Catalyst 

Designed to guide ambitious business leaders across Cumberland with a drive to transform the nuclear sector.

Nuclear Catalyst partner logos which include: Funded by UK Government, Levelling Up and Cumberland Council

About the Nuclear Catalyst

Lancaster University continues to pioneer nuclear research, channelling over twenty-five years’ expertise. If you’re a leader looking to evolve your business by fuelling innovations across the nuclear sector, read on.

The Nuclear Catalyst is designed exclusively for small and medium-sized enterprises around Cumberland, with an aim to harness the expertise of academics and forward-thinking peers by tackling challenges across the nuclear landscape. From developing advances in nuclear decommissioning and safety to next-gen energy storage solutions, our goal is to co-create an outstanding local model for evolutions in nuclear efficiency.

This project is part-funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The Nuclear Catalyst is designed and delivered by Lancaster University as part of the Cumbria Accelerator Business Growth & Innovation programme in partnership with Enterprising Cumbria.

The ‘Cumbria Accelerator: Business Growth & Innovation’ Programme offers SMEs and pre-start entrepreneurs assistance and consultancy and is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. This is being administered by Cumberland Council and led by Enterprising Cumbria.

Start date: 2nd December 2025

Apply for the Nuclear Catalyst using our online application form

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The Cumberland Council Plan (2023-2027) had identified the nuclear sector as a key strategic asset, enabling economic growth, skills development, and community wealth. The council’s wider goals around sustainability, low carbon transition, and building resilient local economies strongly indicate that nuclear will continue to play a central role in shaping Cumberland’s future.

What's Involved?

The Nuclear Catalyst intends to play a part in fulfilling this plan, providing three collaborative sessions between Cumberland businesses and Lancaster University academics. We believe in co-identifying problems to co-create solutions:

Activation Session

This opening session will see you enter a peer network of leading organisations in the nuclear sector. Reflecting on sector challenges, you will begin to outline the opportunities around Cumberland’s relationship with the evolving sector.

Connexions Session

The second session is all about facilitated innovation. This means expanding an agenda around core nuclear themes alongside other SMEs and academics, with a view to identifying funding initiatives that can move research closer to real-world application.

Innovation Session

In this final session, you will move from identifying funding projects to establishing achievable impact opportunities. Together we will establish further collaborations with our academics, student talent to accelerate innovation beyond the catalyst.

Why Work with Lancaster?

The design of the Nuclear Catalyst draws on our extensive expertise and success over the past 20 years in facilitating business transformation. Furthering our commitment to evolving local objectives, you will have access to sector-wide expertise, including opportunities for future collaboration. We look forward to helping you further your business goals with access to the following:

Dedicated Business Support

Future proofing your business, sector and place, Lancaster University offers access to cutting edge research, facilities and expertise to enable exclusive funding opportunities.

Nuclear research has been active at Lancaster for twenty-five years

Research accounts for the most grant income in the Engineering department, as well as the most industrial income from across the university.

National and International Standing

Lancaster is represented on virtually all relevant Governmental Advisory Bodies, including the Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board (NIRAB).

Talent Pipeline

A partner on three successive Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Centres for Doctoral Training, Lancaster is committed to developing nuclear skills within the talent pipeline.

Bespoke Facilities for Collaboration, Learning and Engagement

Lancaster is host to three National Nuclear User Facilities, ADRIANA, UTGARD Radiochemistry Labs, and the Lancaster Accelerator Mass Spectrometer, which provide definitive, experimental research capabilities.

Management Science

Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) is dedicated to the management of complex strategic decisions, ensuring that your individual business needs are comprehensively met.

Areas of research

Nuclear Lancaster was recently designated University Research Centre status in recognition of its strength in core research areas including Nuclear Waste Management, Innovative Digital Technologies, Nuclear Safety, Security and Non-Proliferation, and Nuclear Fuels and Reactors. With specialists in nuclear detection, nuclear engineering, and the nuclear industrial fuel cycle, the catalyst seeks to reimagine the ways in which local businesses assess and address the most pressing sector-wide concerns.

Costs & Eligibility

The Nuclear Catalyst is fully funded and available to businesses who are eligible under the Shared Prosperity Funding criteria, as follows:

Business based in Cumberland Council local authority district
Received less than £315,000 of subsidies in the last 3 years

Find out more about how and why Lancaster University and our funding bodies holds your information.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2026. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus