Cambridge Atomworks opens new facility and laboratory at Granta Park

by BusinessMagazine August 27, 2026

August 27, 2026

CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom, Aug. 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cambridge Atomworks is excited to announce the opening of its new light industrial facility, which includes a state-of-the-art laboratory, at Granta Park, Cambridge – a leased property from TWI.

The team has already begun to put the new lab to good use by conducting experiments vital to the development of the ODIN micro-reactor. This includes experiments key to developing our understanding of our coolant’s properties and behaviour. These properties, relating to fuel performance, are being characterised utilising a state-of-the-art STA-MS system which enables simultaneous thermogravimetric, heat flow, and mass spectrometry analysis.

The new facility is proving to be an invaluable resource for testing the different elements of flow and heat transfer in the reactor, which is key to establishing the efficient and safe performance of ODIN. Non-nuclear rigs are already being built and are starting to be tested; the team has installed a prototype air-cooling rig to test our passive reactor vessel cooling system. The initial results from these simulation tests have led to new understanding and quantitative insights which help demonstrate the effectiveness of our novel design, and complement our numerical modelling with real operational-type data.

The Cambridge Atomworks Materials team working in the lab

As well as the air-cooling rig, a corrosion testing rig will be put in place in the near future. This will enable the validation of materials selection for reactor critical components, such as the reactor vessel. In the longer term this facility will enable the testing of engineering critical systems for the operation and control of the ODIN micro-reactor.

Thomas Chalklen, Materials Scientist

Rui Guo, Lead Materials Scientist, says “We are excited to have opened our experimental centre at Granta Park, deepening our existing collaborations with TWI while bringing our R&D capabilities to the next level. Situated on an existing industrial site and equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, it will serve as the hub for our materials R&D programmes as well as non-nuclear rig construction projects.”

Ian Farnan, CEO, says: “We are really delighted to get the High Bay facility at Granta Park up and running. It will allow us the space and height to build our demonstrator rigs and the chemistry facility will give us the analytical platform to investigate the chemical processes inherent in our reactor system, which will accelerate the completion of the ODIN design.”

The Cambridge Atomworks rig building team