Rolls-Royce Marine Power Operations Limited, a subsidiary of Rolls-Royce plc

Rolls-Royce plc

Rolls-Royce Group plc is a global power systems company headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second-largest maker of aircraft engines , and also has major businesses in the marine propulsion and energy sectors. Through its defence-related activities...

, operates three nuclear licensed sites, two of which are at Raynesway in Derby

Derby

Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...

, UK.

The Manufacturing Site was licensed in August 1960 and deals with processing of uranium

Uranium

Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...

 fuel and the fabrication of nuclear reactor

Nuclear reactor

A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...

 cores for Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

s such as the new Astute-class

Astute class submarine

The Astute-class is the latest class of nuclear-powered fleet submarines in service with the Royal Navy. The class sets a new standard for the Royal Navy in terms of weapons load, communication facilities and stealth. The boats are being constructed by BAE Systems Submarine Solutions at...

.

The Neptune/Radioactive Components Facility Site was licensed in November 1961 and houses the Neptune test reactor which is used to conduct experiments on reactor cores.

It was created as a joint company in 1954 with the name Rolls-Royce and Associates; the associates being Vickers

Vickers

Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...

, Foster Wheeler and later Babcock and Wilcox

Babcock and Wilcox

The Babcock & Wilcox Company is a U.S.-based company that provides design, engineering, manufacturing, construction and facilities management services to nuclear, renewable, fossil power, industrial and government customers worldwide. B&W's boilers supply more than 300,000 megawatts of installed...

. It changed its name on 15 January 1999 to Rolls-Royce Marine Power Operations Limited and is part of the marine business of Rolls-Royce plc.

External links

• Rolls-Royce Nuclear
• HSE Nuclear Safety Review
• Rolls-Royce History Lecture (pdf)
• CND article about Raynesway nuclear safety
• Bird's Eye aerial photo of Raynesway's Neptune reactor test facility on UK Secret Bases website