Jack Loughran

4 days ago | eandt.theiet.org | Jack Loughran

Decommissioning Sellafield nuclear plant is not happening fast enough, and could add further costs to a project that is already estimated to cost £136bn, MPs have said. A report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found that Sellafield Ltd has missed most of its annual targets for retrieving waste from several buildings on the site, including the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo (MSSS).

4 days ago | eandt.theiet.org | Jack Loughran

Meta has signed a 20-year deal with a nuclear plant to buy electricity that will power the data centres behind its AI efforts. Constellation Energy, which owns nuclear plants across the US, will sell the output of the Illinois-based Clinton Clean Energy Center to Meta from June 2027. Nuclear energy provides consistent, reliable and high-capacity power, so it is particularly useful for keeping the lights on at data centres.

5 days ago | eandt.theiet.org | Jack Loughran

The British Army is ramping up its investment in modern weaponry such as drones and lasers as part of a broad revamp of the UK’s defence capabilities. The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) aims to make the Army “10x more lethal” by combining more people and armoured capability with air defence, communications, AI, software, long-range weapons and land drone swarms.

6 days ago | eandt.theiet.org | Jack Loughran

Britain’s manufacturers have said the government’s upcoming Industrial Strategy will be “fatally flawed” if it fails to tackle the high energy costs faced by the sector. According to Make UK, which represents the sector, industrial energy costs in the UK are currently four times as high as the US and 46% above the global average. Last year, UK Steel highlighted how high prices had crippled domestic steel producers, which are paying as much as 50% more than competitors in France and Germany.

6 days ago | eandt.theiet.org | Jack Loughran

Vodafone and Three have completed their merger two years after initial proposals triggered a lengthy investigation by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The combined business, named VodafoneThree, will host more than 27 million users – making it Britain’s biggest network and reducing the number of competing companies in the sector from four to three. The CMA originally halted the deal over concerns that reduced competition could negatively impact consumers.