As a business, we are committed to doing all we can to protect the environment, maximise energy efficiency and reach the UK’s Net Zero goal by 2050.

One of our strategic focus areas is dedicated to clean energy. Through our work, we support nuclear’s potential to deliver reliable and affordable green electricity.

UKNNL is supporting the wider UK nuclear sector to recognise and position itself to deliver the potential benefits of advanced nuclear technologies such as Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs). These technologies offer the opportunity to shift nuclear projects from construction sites to purpose-built factories, with standardised components manufactured on a production line before being transported to the site and assembled. This makes the infrastructure replicable from one project to the next and much more attractive to invest in making it quicker to deploy and cheaper to finance.

We’re also working to embed sustainability throughout our business, aiming to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2030 by changing our habits of consumption and applying a circular economy.

Our Net Zero journey is underpinned through our daily applications of sustainable effort; through our behaviours and investments, we all must be curious and continue to actively reduce our environmental impacts and ensure through our actions, we continuously reduce our green-house emissions.

We continually improve our energy efficiency, aiming to mitigate our environmental impact as far as practicably possible. Our ongoing efforts and continuous improvement are independently verified, and we are proud to hold accreditation to ISO 50001: Energy Management and ISO 14001 : Environmental Requirements.

Our ISO certificates and our investment into our infrastructure, facilities and people demonstrate to all our work force, stakeholders, suppliers, customers and local communities that UKNNL is serious when it comes to preventative measures, continual improvement and delivering on our commitment to “protect the environment and maximise energy efficiency, ensuring that there is no unnecessary harm to the environment or excessive energy use as a result of our activities”(UKNNL-POLICY-16).

Our continuous learning and improvement culture along with positive behaviours, demonstrated by all our employees, contractors and workers; actively ensure environmental sustainability, is at the heart of our organisation. We invite you to play your part, by challenging energy inefficiencies, optimise the circular economy and embed sustainability throughout our business operations and services. Since 2018, we have reduced our energy related carbon emissions by over half. In 2023/24 we achieved a 10% reduction in total gross CO2 emissions by reducing our energy consumption, investing in new energy efficient equipment, upgrading our infrastructure and adjusting our own behaviours.

Sustainability is more than just the environment, it’s also about our social impact and how we benefit our people and society, as well as optimising practices that support long term sustainable, inclusive and economic growth.

Learn more about sustainability and how you can embed sustainable practices into your work and home life by completing NN0570 Sustainability Awareness Essentials e-learning module.

UKNNL E-Learning

All employees are invited to join Giki Zero, a platform designed to help you understand your carbon footprint and the steps you can take to reduce your impact. You can access the platform on your smartphone, tablet, or your computer. It has personalised steps, tailored for every lifestyle, priority and budget. It also features a broad range of carbon-reducing tips so you can choose the ones that most interest you. It might be changing to renewable electricity, swapping some car journeys for a walk, turning the thermostat down a degree, or taking a shorter shower. Through Giki Zero we can see how collectively, we can all make a difference to our planet.

Visit Giki Zero

As you’ve learned, sustainability isn’t just about the environment. It’s about creating a more equitable society that supports people's health, provides quality of life and helps individuals fulfil their potential. Our equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) work underpins our commitment to social sustainability, as does our HR policy and procedures. We also offer some specific schemes and resources to support social sustainability, for example:

HR policies and procedure

Enabling our people to support their local communities through providing special leave for voluntary work and community work such as St John’s Ambulance, Mountain Rescue, RNLI, Army Reserves, Special Constabulary and Cadet Forces - you will find out more in Week 12 of NUSTART but, in the meantime, you can visit the HR Policies and Procedures page on Nucleus.

Visit HR policies and procedure

Give As You Earn scheme

Employing a Give As You Earn scheme, which enables you to donate to UK charities or charitable causes straight from your pay. As donations are taken before tax, the charity gets more of your donation and it also costs you less. To sign up follow this link:

Visit Give as you earn scheme

Because You Care

Because You Care is a discussion forum where you can share the fundraising events and activities you are involved in to support your local community.

Visit Because you care

Sustainability

As set out by the United Nations in the Brundtland Report (1986) sustainability is ‘Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’

Net Zero

The UK is committed to reaching net zero by 2050. This means that the total greenhouse gas emissions would be equal to the emissions removed from the atmosphere, with the aim of limiting global warming and resultant climate change.

Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)

SMRs are advanced reactors that can largely be built in factories as modules to minimise on site construction. The International Atomic Energy Agency defines SMRs as producing up to 300MegaWatts of electric power.

Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs)

The UK government refers to Generation IV reactors as AMRs. These reactors use novel and innovative fuels, coolants, and technologies to generate low carbon electricity, and take advantage of the same modular-build principles as SMRs.

There are a wide range of new reactor technologies under development in a diverse advanced nuclear market across many nations. Many designs have the potential for a range of applications beyond low-carbon electricity generation, including:

• production of hydrogen
• direct heat for industrial or domestic use
• nuclear waste management solutions

Focus Areas

Our focus areas – Clean Energy, Environmental Restoration, Health and Nuclear Medicine and Security and Non-Proliferation; encompass all the work we do. We use the focus areas to communicate our work to others and to set our ambitions and strategies.

EHS&Q

The Environment, Occupational Health and Safety and Quality team (EHS&Q) that ensures we remain compliant with our responsibilities in each of these areas.

Sustainability

Sustainability is the ability to maintain or support a process over time. Sustainability is often broken into three core concepts: economic, environmental, and social.

Sustainability Development (SD)

As set out by the United Nations in the Brundtland Report (1986) Sustainability Development is defined as ‘Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.

Carbon Footprint

A carbon footprint is defined as the total amount of greenhouse gases produced to directly support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide. (CO2). It is the sum of all emissions of CO2 (carbon dioxide) caused directly and indirectly multiplied by an emission factor (Green House Gas emissions = data x Emission Factor* (EF))

Every organisation has a carbon footprint. Compliance with ISO standards helps an organisation identify significant energy using equipment, and continuously improvement ensures investment /training/behaviours actively reduces the organisations carbon footprint.

*Emission Factor is a coefficient that describes the rate at which a given activity releases green-house gases into the atmosphere, in the UK - the UK Government publishes the Emission Factors to be used in all legal carbon footprint reporting.)

Resource Efficiency

The Earth's resources should be used in a sustainable way and in a way that will impact the environment minimally - moving from a linear economy to a circular economy, will ensure resources stay within the economy longer.

Circular Economy

The circular economy is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. In this way, the life cycle of products is extended.