Last year saw a record number of visitors sign up to attend the unique event that focusses on opportunities for the supply chain to work in UK nuclear decommissioning.

Over 300 exhibitors are expected to attend the event, which returns to EventCity in Manchester, featuring the popular ‘Innovation Zone’ that showcases the latest technology being used in nuclear decommissioning.

The People Zone will bring together organisations that are committed to supporting the nuclear industry’s most valuable asset, its people.

Other government departments that have already confirmed their attendance include:

• the Ministry of Defence (MOD)
• the export-focused Department for International Trade (DIT)
• innovation agency Innovate UK

The event, which is organised jointly by the NDA and its businesses, is the biggest of its kind in Europe and is free to attend.

Launched in 2011, its aim is to promote opportunities for suppliers, in particular for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).

Register to attend/exhibit at NDA Estate Supply Chain Event

The morning will be opened by the NDA’s Chief Executive David Peattie, with a further keynote speech from the MOD.

Supply Chain Awards

The event also includes the annual NDA Estate Supply Chain Awards, which acknowledge the vital contribution of suppliers in driving decommissioning progress across the UK.

Judges are keen to hear how technical innovation and collaborating with others in the supply chain have benefitted the way the NDA delivers its mission to decommission and clean up the UK’s civil nuclear legacy – as well as how the work has had a positive impact on communities and employees.

Another important consideration for the judges will be how suppliers have developed their people and invested in their future.

A brand new award for 2018 is ‘Best Approach to Ethical Practice or Social Responsibility’ that will recognise businesses working ethically, delivering social and economic benefits.

Suppliers of all sizes are invited to enter the following categories:

• Best Technical Innovation to Benefit an NDA Business
• Best Approach to Ethical Practice or Social Responsibility
• Best People Strategy
• Best Supply Chain Collaboration
• Best Export of Technology or Services

Closing date for submissions is 5 September 2018.

Find out more about NDA Estate Supply Chain Awards (submissions will be invited later in June)

A unique opportunity for suppliers

The day has been described as “an unrivalled opportunity for suppliers of all sizes to network, collaborate and to showcase the latest nuclear technologies to a global audience.”

Ron Gorham, the NDA’s Head of Supply Chain Optimisation and SME Champion, said:

The NDA estate’s annual supply chain event has become a highlight of the nuclear industry’s calendar, allowing us to discuss opportunities with our supply chain, listen to feedback and encourage new people to get involved with nuclear decommissioning.

The event brings together more than 1,000 supply chain representatives from the UK and across the globe, with more than half coming from SMEs. It aims to ensure greater visibility of opportunities across the NDA’s estate.

Young entrepreneurs have been offered help to turn their ideas on how satellites can improve life on Earth into reality thanks to a Dragons’ Den style event organised by the UK Space Agency.

The youngsters, aged 13 to 21, were offered the chance to pitch their proposals to a panel of leading space industry experts after winning the Agency’s SatelLife Challenge.

The experts offered a range of support to develop the ideas including funding, patent advice and invitations to discuss job opportunities as well as introductions to the other relevant experts for further help.

The winning ideas included a GPS wristband that uses satellite location data and communications services to identify the locations of swimmers and surfers in the sea and an app to map changes in urban areas using satellites and algorithms, identifying where building is taking place and potential sites for development.

Emily Gravestock, Head of Applications Strategy UK Space Agency, said:

The standard of presentations provided by the students was exceptional, even better than some companies who pitch to us. We’ve seen the future of satellite applications from these young people, and I’m excited to see what they could achieve over the coming years.

The Dragons’ Den style event was held at the Satellite Applications Catapult at Harwell Space Cluster in Oxfordshire.

Adam Brocklehurst, Patent Attorney at K2 IP Limited who was one of the judges, said:

I’m really impressed with the innovative ideas coming out of people so young. The presentations and the ideas were all fantastic and you could see they had worked really hard on them. It was great to see so many girls involved and that reflects well on work the UK Space Agency and other bodies are doing to encourage girls to study STEM subjects.

Another judge, Adina Gillespie, Institutional Strategist at Earth i, added:

The young talent that we have in the UK is second to none. I’m so pleased to see these young adults engaging with the space sector as it will be a major economy of the future.

Now in its second year, SatelLife Challenge supports the development of science, data handling and technological skills, complementing the Government’s Year of Engineering campaign which is championing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics to the next generation.

Dr Nick Appleyard, Head of Downstream Business Applications at ESA, said:

With the capabilities of satellites developing so rapidly, new ideas for services that use their data and connections are coming thick and fast. We’ve seen that the ideas of UK’s young, tech-literate generation are just as achievable as those being developed by mature companies, addressing challenges for vulnerable people and in our own daily lives that could never have been solved before.

The other judges on the panel were Stuart Martin, Chief Executive of Satellite Applications Catapult and Karen Roche, Business Development Director at Kx Technology.

A group of school children from Cornwall and a student from Wiltshire were the overall winners of the SatelLife Challenge.

Ellie Jones, Jessica Knight, both 15, Summer Jeffery and Emily Haddrell, both 14, from Truro, scooped £7,500 for the best group entry in the UK Space Agency competition with their Surf Safe concept. Ieuan Higgs, from Chippenham, received £7,500 for the best individual entry for his Infrastructure Planning and Development Analysis Tool.

The competition is split into three age groups: 11 – 16; 16 – 18; 18 – 22, and a further seven entries from across the age categories were awarded £5,000.

With one in four of all telecoms satellites already built substantially in Britain, the government’s Industrial Strategy includes plans to work with the industry to grow the space sector and establish commercial space launch services from the UK for the first time.

Earlier this week the UK Space Agency announced a new fund of up to £4 million which is available for innovative ideas on high-tech solutions for some of the major problems facing NHS England. In the joint initiative with NHS England, innovators will bid for money to turn technology originally designed for space, from exploration to satellite communications, into medical applications that improve NHS treatment and care.

This afternoon the Prime Minister welcomed Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece to Downing Street for the first time. The Prime Minister noted that the friendship between the UK and Greece goes back centuries and is stronger today than it ever has been with millions of British citizens travelling to Greece every year. She thanked Prime Minister Tsipras for the warm welcome given to the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall on their recent visit to Athens and Crete.

The Prime Minister congratulated Prime Minister Tsipras on the progress made by the Greek economy and the important steps taken last week towards Greece’s exit from the economic adjustment programme in August. The leaders agreed that as the Greek economy continues to recover, there is potential for deeper business links in the energy, tourism, education and shipping sectors.

They discussed the issues that Greece faces with illegal migration and agreed that this is a shared challenge that requires a co-ordinated and comprehensive response including through the continued implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement. The Prime Minister said that the UK would continue to play its part in supporting a sustainable solution after we leave the EU. She said that the UK would send an additional Border Force cutter to the Aegean to carry out vital search and rescue operations.

The Prime Minister updated Prime Minister Tsipras on the continuing progress that the UK and EU have made on issues relating to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. They agreed that a deep and comprehensive future partnership on trade and security was in the interests of the UK, the EU and EU Member States including Greece.

They discussed regional issues and agreed on the importance of encouraging further steps towards a settlement in Cyprus. Prime Minister Tsipras welcomed the constructive role the UK had played in the talks so far as one of the guarantors. The Prime Minister also took the opportunity to welcome the historic agreement reached on the longstanding Name Issue with Greece’s Northern Neighbour and the benefits this will bring to regional stability.

The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Tsipras discussed relations between Turkey and Greece agreeing that continued dialogue was vital in ensuring regional stability.

Finally, the Prime Minister reiterated the need for the international community to uphold the rules based international system including by calling out and responding to malign activity by Russia.

Thank you Mr President, and thank you to our briefers, particularly may I pass on my thanks to Special Representative Yamamoto for updating the Council on the latest report and for all of the work that you and your team are doing in challenging circumstances. Thank you.

Mr President, this feels like a moment of opportunity for Afghanistan.

Recent events including the unprecedented ceasefires and the preparations for upcoming elections give us all reasons to be cautiously optimistic. We must do everything we can to make the most of this opportunity to end the violence.

President Ghani’s offer to the Taleban of talks without preconditions and the ceasefires over Eid al-Fitr are most welcome. The extraordinary images of soldiers and Taleban fighters embracing in the streets of cities across Afghanistan gave hope to millions of Afghans that an end to the conflict was achievable.

The Afghan Government has shown an impressive commitment to peace. Now we need a similar commitment from the Taleban. The Taleban need to decide whether they want to be a part of the future of Afghanistan. It seems to be what many of their fighters want. It is what the Afghan people want. It is time for the Taleban’s leaders to show true courage and true leadership and work for peace.

Of course, the only solution to the conflict is an Afghan-led and owned political process.

Mr President, there are now four months to go until parliamentary elections in October. We welcome the progress to date on key electoral reforms and thank UNAMA for supporting the Afghan government in their preparations.

Boris Johnson, the British Foreign Secretary, was in Kabul only yesterday. And he said there that “we encourage UNAMA to keep up the pressure on the Afghan Government and its electoral management bodies to ensure credible, inclusive and timely elections.”

The UK and the wider donor community are also playing our parts, and we are encouraging the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) to deliver elections on time with a focus on reducing opportunities for fraud. We are particularly concerned that key positions remain unfilled at the IEC and we call on the Afghan Government to appoint a new CEO and the provincial ECC Commissioners without delay.

Following the elections, the Geneva Conference on Afghanistan in November will be an opportunity for donor countries and the Government of Afghanistan to take stock of progress since 2016 and to ensure the government is on track to deliver its reform commitments. This is also an opportunity for the donor community and the government to consider the future of international support beyond 2020.

Mr President, at this moment of potential change, we should reflect on progress to date, particularly on the rights of women and girls. This is a personal priority of the British Foreign Secretary, who met Afghan girls participating in a UK-funded sports education programme during his recent trip. Over the last six years, UK aid has helped 300,000 marginalised Afghan girls into education and trained over 10,000 teachers.

But there is some way to go to reach our goal of 12 years of quality education for all girls. The UK is contributing almost $1 billion in development funding in Afghanistan between 2016 and 2020. We will continue to work closely with our Afghan partners to promote opportunities for all Afghans.

Mr President, I began by saying that this felt like a moment of opportunity for Afghanistan. There is a prospect of peace. Elections are coming, which can help support peace and social stability. Let us stand beside our Afghan partners at this moment. Let us stand beside the Afghan people as they determine their own future.

Thank you Mr President.