Is Sheffield about to become a nuclear free zone again?

Good afternoon readers — and welcome to our Monday briefing.

If the aim was for South Yorkshire to become an advanced manufacturing powerhouse, it was a very odd way to go about it. Earlier this month the University of Sheffield announced that three quarters of the workforce at their Nuclear AMRC plant in Catcliffe were going to be made redundant. The job losses are obviously terrible news for all of those affected. But the stakes may be even higher, with some claiming the decision could hamper the UK’s ability to achieve net zero by 2050. And what does the decision say about the university’s long-term commitment to advanced manufacturing? That’s our big story today.

As well as that, we have news of a dramatic day in court over the university Gaza protests, and find out about the Graves Gallery’s latest exhibition, A Passion for Prints.

Catch up

For our weekend read, Victoria visited the Yorkshire Natural History Museum in Hillsborough to find out what drives its 24-year-old creator. You can still read that piece here.

Last week we sent out two great newsletters to our 2,217 paying members. In the first Dan went to Loxley in search of the Sheffield roots of one of England’s most enduring folktales. And in the second, we gave rail engineer and expert Gareth Dennis a blank sheet of paper and asked him to design a brand new railway network for Sheffield. An extract from that second piece is below.

Just think what public transport outside of the capital could look like if the same had been spent outside of London — say, in Sheffield. Or rather, in today’s South Yorkshire City Region (which includes Doncaster, Rotherham and Barnsley) with its total population of 1.8 million people. 1.8 million multiplied by £5,000 gives a total of £9 billion to spend on the region over the next thirty odd years. There’s a sound in the distance — it’s our Treasury overlords interjecting all the way from Westminster: “But what about the tram?” Sheffield Supertram originally cost £240 million and was opened in stages between 1994 and 1995. The tram-train extension to Rotherham cost £75 million. In today’s money, that totals £675 million. For comparison with the £5,000 figure, that only gives a spend of £375 per person. Are Sheffielders really only worth 8% of Londoners? Read it here.

Editor’s note: I think last Thursday’s piece about Sheffield’s rail network by engineer Gareth Dennis was The Tribune at its very best. Written by an expert, reframing something in a totally new way, with a spirited — but exceptionally polite — discussion kicking off in the comments. “No other published medium offers this level of thought or information for Sheffield,” wrote one person. 

We can, of course, only do any of this because of our paying members — experts like Gareth Dennis don’t spend hours on end writing for free! If you think our city needs that kind of expert insight, then we are (politely, of course) asking you to join us today.

The big picture: Magnified meadows 🌸

Meadows Magnified is a collaboration between researchers at the University of Sheffield and community interest company Green Estate to encourage people to care for biodiversity through community art and science. The brilliant photo above was captured by Park and Arbourthorne councillor Ben Miskell at the most recent event in Norfolk Park at the weekend.

The big story: Is Sheffield about to become a nuclear free zone again? ☢️

Top line: The University of Sheffield’s Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Nuclear AMRC) has announced it is to shed almost 100 jobs, and some fear the facility could close for good. What do the cuts say about the university’s long term commitment to advanced manufacturing, and could the job losses affect the UK’s ability to achieve net zero by 2050?

The £25 million Nuclear AMRC was set up in 2011 to help UK manufacturers win work in the nuclear sector. It is believed that around 90 jobs will go out of around 120 staff, with all staff from the CEO down at risk of redundancy. All staff have been forced to reapply for their jobs.

• The university’s vice chancellor Professor Koen Lamberts said the Nuclear AMRC’s structure needed to change but that the plant’s “core manufacturing research and development activities would remain”.
• Its work on the design and production of small modular reactors or SMRs (small nuclear power plants) would “continue to grow and offer significant opportunities for the South Yorkshire region”, he added.

Others see that as a lot of spin, however. Sheffield South East MP Clive Betts told the BBC that he feared that the job losses could mean the site could close for good. “The university needs to urgently reconsider its decision as it not only leads to the loss of 100 highly skilled jobs, it also damages the UK’s research capability in this area,” he said. He added that lots of public money had been spent on the facility, and that he would be asking the government to intervene.

Lamberts latest: Ever since Professor Koen Lamberts was appointed as vice chancellor in June 2018, the university has taken much tighter control over the advanced manufacturing research facilities established two decades ago by Professor Keith Ridgway and industrialist Adrian Allen:

• A little over a year after Prof Lamberts took the helm, Ridgway and Allen and two other founders left the AMRC with severance deals. Prior to that, he turned down the offer of £10 million from the then Local Enterprise Council to double the size of the AMRC’s apprentice training centre.
• When Steve Foxley was appointed CEO of the AMRC, 67 people were put at risk of redundancy in a change programme that they said would lead to 15 job losses, and in 2020, Prof Lamberts attempted to close the university-owned Castings Technology facility, which would have led to the loss of 60 more jobs.

Now it would appear the university sees the Nuclear AMRC as similarly expendable.

Please see statement from university at the end of this piece.

Not zero? According to this piece in the Telegraph, the cuts could also dent the UK’s net zero ambitions. The new Secretary of State for Energy Ed Miliband wants to quadruple the amount of nuclear energy we produce by 2050. This is because renewables are effective when the wind blows or the sun shines — but that isn’t all of the time. “Renewables, particularly onshore wind, has been flagged up as a significant contributor [to net zero targets]," added Betts. “But we also know nuclear has got to be there as the baseload for any electricity system that is less carbon intensive."

Our take: Sheffield has staked its entire economic strategy on the advanced manufacturing sector, and with good reason. In a local economy that is — by and large — not very productive, this is a genuine, world-leading strength. Just a few weeks ago, South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard wrote to the new Prime Minister to say our region’s expertise in advanced manufacturing could help rebuild the UK economy. Having a major research centre in a crucial energy technology puts us in a strong position.

But it seems the university hasn’t got the memo. While the university say that it’s just the structure that is changing, it's difficult to see the loss of three quarters of the workforce as anything other than a prelude to its closure. This isn’t just about job losses, or the companies supported by the Nuclear AMRC. It’s the negative message it sends to businesses considering investing here — that we’re winding down, rather than ramping up. It’s time for a rethink.

We’re hoping to do some more reporting on the job losses at the Nuclear AMRC and what led to them. If you have anything you’d like to contribute, please email editor@sheffieldtribune.co.uk.

Update 23/07/24

We were contacted by the University of Sheffield to ask us to amend this piece with the below information:

• The piece refers to “around 70 redundancies” made at the AMRC "when Steve Foxley was appointed CEO of the organisation”. This is incorrect. At the end of a change programme to reflect the AMRC’s new ten-year strategy at that time, one redundancy was made. 
• You also refer to Castings Technology International, but do not mention that the University agreed a management buyout of the company.
• Your piece refers to comments by Sheffield South East MP Clive Betts reported by the BBC on 13 July. Since then, Mr Betts has met the Vice-Chancellor and has been briefed on the proposed changes. He has since provided comments to the Yorkshire Post (published on 19 July) following their conversation.
• We would also like to clarify that, under the proposals, the University would retain the Nuclear AMRC building in Rotherham, the specialist equipment which has received significant investment to build up and the skill base and expertise to continue delivering this capability to the nuclear sector and other industrial sectors with aligned requirements. 
• Manufacturing research and development around small modular reactors will continue at the University. In May the University announced that Rolls-Royce SMR is partnering with us to launch a new manufacturing and testing facility in the AMRC’s Factory 2050.

The Tribune has asked further questions about both previous and current rounds of redundancies, and we will include their responses in further newsletters.

The Weekly Whitworth ✍️

Cartoonist James Whitworth with his own take on the news that the Clean Air Zone has been declared a success after pollution levels fell in Sheffield. For more on that, see this piece in Now Then.

Coming up

This week we’ll send out two more members-only pieces including an interview by Victoria with Karl Hurst — a photographer and chef at the Rutland Arms — about how natural landscapes and the absurdity of capitalism combine in his diverse portfolio of work. And we’ll also have another one by Dan about the battle over who owns the city centre: West Street revellers or residents who want a good night’s sleep? To read both of those, you’ll have to become a subscriber. It costs just £1.71 a week or 24p a day if you pay for 12 months up front (£89).

This week’s weather 🌥

Our weather forecast comes from dedicated Sheffield weather service Steel City Skies, who say it will be a mixed but decent July week with bright or sunny spells and the occasional cloudier and showery spell, too. Warm.

Monday ⛅ Some cloud and light showers or drizzle early on, with a brightening trend developing during the afternoon. Warm and breezy with highs of 22°C.

Tuesday 🌦 Again a few showers are possible, but many should stay dry and fine with lighter winds, too. Bright or sunny spells and highs of 22°C once again.

Wednesday ⛅ The warmest day of the week with sunny spells and a few well-scattered heavy showers. Breezy from the south with highs up to 25°C.

Thursday 🌦 A low to the northwest brings a brief but more widespread risk of showery rain, with sunny spells either side. Cooler and still breezy with 23°C the high.

Friday 🌦 Remaining breezy from the southwest with low pressure to the north still providing a shower risk outside of brighter spells. Highs of 22°C.

Weekend Outlook: Showers possible, especially on Saturday, with the likelihood of another ridge to the south bringing drier weather for Sunday. Temps similar; low twenties with light breezes.

To see the full forecast and keep up to date with any changes to the outlook, follow Steel City Skies on Facebook.

Our media picks 🔗

University of Sheffield threaten bailiffs for anti-apartheid protesters 🇵🇸 The University of Sheffield is hoping to evict a camp of pro-Palestine activists but its efforts to secure a court order were delayed last week after “court chaos”. Now Then tried to attend the hearing but, like all members of the press and public, they were turned away, allegedly due to a “false presumption made by the security guard”. Even members of the encampment were barred, denying them the right to defend themselves in court and, as a result, the judge adjourned until this Friday. 

In Sheffield’s new top foodie destination, something gnaws at me and it isn’t hunger 🧋 In the Observer, Rachel Cooke wonders if Sheffield might have reached “peak coffee shop” after popping into new city-centre food hall Cambridge Street Collective. “Sheffield has, to my knowledge, three other food halls already, as well as the more affordable Moor Market,” she writes. “Who will buy all these noodles? Who will drink all this bubble tea?” So far, Cambridge Street Collective certainly seems to be buzzing with customers — and the freelancer we sent certainly had a great time — but let us know in the comments if you think it can go the distance.

Third person claims to be missing toddler 🔍 For the third time this year, Sheffield’s Kerry Needham — whose toddler Ben went missing from a Greek island in 1991 — is waiting to see if a DNA test will prove that an adult stranger is her son. A man from Denmark claims he may have been snatched from the same island and has provided a DNA sample for testing, although Kerry told the Mirror she is refusing to get her hopes up. South Yorkshire Police believe Ben may have died in an accident after a witness came forward, although blood discovered at the scene did not belong to Ben and the witness is refusing to speak to police again. 

Home of the week 🏡

This charming one-bedroom Ranmoor apartment is just a short walk from Bingham Park, and has a balcony which offers stunning views over Trippet Wood. It is on the market for £160,000.

Tribune Tips: If you want to tell us about a story or give us some information, please email editor@sheffieldtribune.co.uk. We are always happy to speak to people off the record in the first poll instance, and we will treat your information with confidence and sensitivity.

Things to do 📆

Heritage 🏚️ On Tuesday, Joined Up Heritage Sheffield welcomes the National Lottery Heritage Fund to its bi-monthly meeting at the National Emergency Services Museum (10.30am). At the meeting learn about funding opportunities and the fund’s new “Heritage 2033” strategy. The meetings are open to everyone, whatever your interest in heritage, and always feature a guest speaker plus the chance to discuss problems and opportunities for Sheffield’s heritage. 

Music 🎸 Arriving at Delicious Clam on Tuesday all the way from Asbury Park, New Jersey are Lightheaded. Playing a dreamy take on classic 1960s influenced pop, the three-piece list the much-loved Scottish band Belle and Sebastian as major influences, and their debut album Combustible Gems has just come out to rave reviews. Support on the night will come from Mt. Misery, Trust Fund and Post Archives. Tickets are priced £6-£22 and doors open at 7.30pm.

Art 🖼️ On Thursday, come to Graves Gallery to hear about the new exhibition, A Passion for Prints. The exhibition tells the story of a father and son from Sheffield whose passion for prints led them to develop an outstanding collection, including works by Callot, Rembrandt, Manet, Redon, and more. In this free talk, David Alston will chart their story and share insights into works on display, with a specific focus on Odilon Redon. The hour-long talk begins at 1.30pm.