en.Wedoany.com Reported - Chiltern Vital Group (CVG) has signed a letter of intent with Cambridge Atomworks to establish a prototype research and development facility for the Odin microreactor at the Berkeley Green Science and Technology Park (BGSTP) in Gloucestershire, England.

The Odin design uses a low-pressure molten salt coolant, eliminating the need for heavy high-pressure containment, and relies on natural convection as the ultimate heat sink. It can be housed in a standard shipping container for rapid deployment. The fuel uses High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) with enrichment levels up to 20%.

Cambridge Atomworks, established in 2023, is a specialized consulting partnership working closely with research departments at the University of Cambridge. It was outsourced and employed by the US company NANO Nuclear to design a transportable nuclear microreactor. Cambridge Atomworks guided the Odin design through its first major technical hurdle—a pre-conceptual design review conducted by the US Department of Energy (DOE) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). In 2024, the Odin design initiated regulatory engagement with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

In September 2025, NANO Nuclear shifted its corporate strategy towards stationary reactors for data centers, and Cambridge Atomworks signed a letter of intent to repurchase 100% of the intellectual property rights for Odin for $6.2 million. In March, it also signed a memorandum of understanding with engineering and management consultancy Mott MacDonald to accelerate technology development and expand reactor infrastructure.

Chiltern Vital Berkeley (CVB), a CVG subsidiary that owns and develops BGSTP, is in final-stage negotiations with several nuclear and energy technology companies. Chris Turner, CEO of CVG and CVB, stated that Cambridge Atomworks' agreement to locate its prototype R&D facility at Berkeley marks another significant step for CVB in developing BGSTP into a global center for zero-carbon energy technology, education, and training within the Severn Edge nuclear supercluster.

Cambridge Atomworks views the agreement with CVB as a major advancement in Odin's regulatory development, providing critical answers to the integrated physics and thermal-hydraulic challenges of microreactors required by global regulators. Ian Farnan, CEO of Cambridge Atomworks, said that after physics demonstration activities are completed, the goal is to use the Berkeley prototype reactor as a training facility for the global workforce and the UK nuclear workforce, as the UK currently lacks a reactor training facility for this purpose.

BGSTP is located on part of the Berkeley nuclear power station site. Both Berkeley and the nearby Oldbury nuclear power station are decommissioned Magnox reactors currently undergoing dismantling. The two sites, located just 8 miles apart in a straight line along the eastern bank of the River Severn, are considered a unified dual-site known as the Severn Edge nuclear supercluster.

BGSTP was established in 2016 by South Gloucestershire and Stroud College (SGS). The SGS Group intervened to save the disused Berkeley nuclear laboratories from complete demolition, purchasing a 999-year lease from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority for £3 million ($3.9 million). The project was supported by Gloucestershire County Council, Stroud District Council, and local enterprise partnership GFirst LEP, which contributed an additional £7 million.

In September 2017, the park opened its flagship facility, SGS Berkeley Green University Technical College (UTC), focusing on education in engineering, cybersecurity, and digital technology. When SGS founded the park, it focused on education and low-carbon enterprise but recognized the need for private support. In August 2024, SGS sold the park to CVG for £6.5 million, shifting its focus towards becoming a low-carbon nuclear "supercluster."

With the sale to CVG, the site is undergoing a major expansion, adding 600,000 square feet of laboratory and manufacturing space to attract more small modular reactor (SMR) developers. The park is part of a broader government strategy to place the Berkeley and Oldbury sites at the heart of the UK's new nuclear deployment. Several major SMR developers have close ties or strong interest in the region. Rolls-Royce SMR is CVG's core partner at Berkeley, focusing on deploying reactors at the adjacent Oldbury site and using Berkeley as a center for safety, innovation, and workforce training.

As a key pillar of the Severn Edge nuclear supercluster, the park is highly relevant to the companies shortlisted by Great British Nuclear-Energy (GBE-N) for the UK's SMR program. GBE-N's final shortlist includes four global technology vendors: Rolls-Royce SMR (470 MWe PWR design), GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (BWRX-300 design), Westinghouse Electric Company (AP300 SMR design), and Holtec Britain (SMR-300 design).

GBE-N purchased the Oldbury site from Hitachi in March 2024 for £160 million, a transaction that brought this strategic land back under UK government control. Hitachi acquired the site in 2012 but abandoned its corporate plans there in 2020 due to cost pressures. GBE-N has applied for planning permission to begin ground surveys and site characterization for up to six SMRs, with construction targeted to begin around 2029. GBE-N has not yet selected a winning vendor or vendor combination for the Oldbury land.