Nuclear Lifecycle

Jacobs brings decades of experience to decommissioning and cleanup, drawn from our work at the world’s most challenging nuclear sites including Fukushima, Chernobyl and Hanford.

Given the nature of nuclear facilities, these legacy assets can't simply be switched off, demolished and removed.  We tackle our client’s biggest challenges and help transform contaminated sites into safe places for the environment and communities to thrive. We help asset owners manage the cultural and mindset shifts required to move from operations to decommissioning. We employ practical, technically and commercially innovative strategies to address the decontamination, dismantling, deactivation and demolition of high-hazard plants and sites. 

Safety case management, environmental and radiological consultancy, and health physics support go hand in hand with our core engineering capabilities, ensuring an unrelenting safety ethos. We apply strategies to minimize waste volumes requiring final disposal and we implement innovative decommissioning and decontamination processes for U.K. clients including Sellafield Ltd, Magnox Ltd and Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd.  As a Tier 1 service provider to the U.S. Department of Energy and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, we deliver safe and innovative solutions at complex nuclear cleanup and production sites, including the Idaho Cleanup Project, Rocky Flats Closure and West Valley Decommissioning, just to name a few.

Jacobs is a leader in reactor technology, conceptual design and engineering relating to new nuclear technologies including Generation IV reactors, fusion and small modular reactors (SMRs). We have a decades-long involvement in ITER, the world’s largest nuclear fusion project, where our work ranges from designing prototypes for key components to complex remote handling systems essential for reactor operations.

Our work on advanced modular and compact reactors includes designing the reactor cores and containment, steam generators, control and instrumentation, refueling systems and materials and chemistry. We have also drawn up policies for waste management, environmental management, licensing and decommissioning.

We’re leading the U.K.’s Nuclear Virtual Engineering Capability project, a government-funded research program focusing on the use of virtual engineering and high-performance computing to enhance the techniques used to design reactors and optimize their performance.

With increasing climate change challenges, the shift to clean energy growth and the need to cut emissions to “net zero,” it’s time to think differently about tomorrow. We're working with clients around the world on their nuclear new build programs – helping them provide a secure, low-carbon, large-scale energy supply for the future.

We’re part of a U.K. consortium developing a new type of smart, compact, modular nuclear power plant; and we’re a major contributor to ITER, the world’s largest fusion project based in Provence, France.  We helped design the first and second generation of the U.K.’s nuclear power plants (NPP). We’re providing diverse capability for current new build programs including EDF’s Hinkley Point C in the U.K. and the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation’s (ENEC) Barakah NPP program in Abu Dhabi.

Drawing on our extensive engineering design and construction management capabilities, and our global licensing, environmental and site hazard evaluation knowledge, our work with commercial and governmental clients has helped advance their civil nuclear new build programs.

Nuclear power is one of the most regulated industries, demanding the highest standards in safety, security and environmental management.

We help our clients interpret regulations, investigate practical environmental options and implement benchmarking. Our bold thinkers challenge and innovate across diverse projects to improve operational performance and extend the life of nuclear power plants.

With our comprehensive knowledge of reactor technology, regulatory requirements and the management of aging plants, we bring a thoughtful and collaborative approach to support programs – finding new ways to deliver plant life extension and tackle emerging challenges.

When fleet critical issues arise for reactor operators, we have the capability to diagnose the problem accurately, conceptualize the solution, design and manufacture the necessary equipment, and then deploy a team to plan and implement major engineering change.

From conceptual design and optimization of new nuclear technologies like Generation IV and small modular reactors to tackling complex analytical challenges in and outside the laboratory, we’re making the impossible, possible.