UK–Japan Civil Nuclear Research Programme 2026: Up to £475,000 for the UK Research Component of Fukushima and Sellafield Decommissioning Projects
EPSRC and Japan’s MEXT are supporting collaborative UK–Japan research on safer, more sustainable decommissioning of Fukushima and Sellafield, with UK projects starting 1 January 2027 and UK applications closing 8 September 2026.
UK–Japan Civil Nuclear Research Programme 2026: Up to £475,000 for the UK Research Component of Fukushima and Sellafield Decommissioning Projects
The UK–Japan Civil Nuclear Research Programme 2026 is an open research grant call for teams working across the two countries on difficult decommissioning problems at Fukushima Daiichi and Sellafield. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is running the UK side with Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). The call is aimed at collaborative research rather than a general nuclear-energy project: the proposal must address a defined decommissioning challenge and include both UK-based and Japan-based researchers.
The UK application deadline is 8 September 2026 at 4:00 p.m. UK time. Successful work must start on 1 January 2027, run for no more than 36 months, and finish by 31 December 2029. EPSRC lists a total programme fund of £950,000. A project may have a full economic cost of up to £593,750, with EPSRC funding 80% of that cost, up to £475,000, for the UK component. The Japanese partner seeks support for the Japanese component through the Japanese process.
Key details
| Item | Confirmed detail |
|---|---|
| Funder on the UK side | EPSRC, part of UK Research and Innovation |
| Japanese co-funder | Japan’s MEXT, with the Japanese component submitted through the relevant Japan-side process |
| Funding type | Collaborative research grant |
| Total programme fund | £950,000 |
| Project value | Up to £593,750 at 100% full economic cost |
| UKRI contribution | 80% of full economic cost, up to £475,000 |
| What EPSRC funds | The UK component of the research only |
| Project duration | Up to 36 months |
| Required start date | 1 January 2027 |
| Required end date | No later than 31 December 2029 |
| UK application deadline | 8 September 2026 at 4:00 p.m. UK time |
| Eligible lead | UK-based researcher at an eligible research organisation |
| Required partnership | UK-based and Japan-based researchers |
| Application system | UKRI Funding Service; Je-S cannot be used |
| Official contact | [email protected] |
What the programme is designed to fund
The call focuses on the practical and scientific problems involved in making nuclear decommissioning safer, more cost-effective, more sustainable, and easier to manage. The official scope connects the research to both Fukushima Daiichi and Sellafield. That cross-country focus matters: the proposal should explain what each side contributes and why the partnership produces knowledge neither team could deliver as effectively alone.
Applicants must work in at least one of four programme fields:
- Radioactive waste treatment, packaging, and storage. Relevant examples include waste characterisation, treatment and immobilisation of radioactive waste, and sludge or slurry treatment.
- Robotic and autonomous systems for decommissioning. The listed sub-themes include remote handling, remote inspection, radiation-hardened detectors, integrated robotic systems, digital twins, and artificial intelligence.
- Fuel debris and materials. The call names fuel-debris characterisation and ageing, modelling fuel-debris behaviour, and characterisation of radioactive aerosols.
- Decommissioning technology. This includes monitoring, in-situ repair, risk management, and advanced data analysis and modelling.
Who can apply and how the partnership works
The UK project lead must be a UK-based researcher employed by a UKRI-eligible research organisation. UKRI’s standard individual and organisation eligibility rules apply, so a prospective lead should ask the institution’s research office to confirm eligibility before investing in final costings. The opportunity does not waive normal institutional requirements merely because it is internationally coordinated.
The collaboration requirement is central. A UK-based team and a Japan-based team must prepare linked applications. The UK partner submits its proposal part to EPSRC. The Japanese partner submits its part to the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) and the Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science (CLADS), under the Japanese funding arrangements described by the call. The UKRI page does not state a single Japanese-side deadline in the UK guidance; the Japanese team should confirm that timetable directly through its submission route.
The two applications must describe the same overall project. EPSRC says the UK Vision and Approach should match the material submitted to JAEA and CLADS as closely as possible, allowing for language differences, and must describe work taking place in both countries. That means the partnership should agree early on the shared research question, work packages, responsibilities, milestones, data access, safety assumptions, and routes for using the results.
International researchers cannot normally lead the UK application. The call says that, because EPSRC is the lead funder, international researchers can apply only as a project co-lead (international) under the UKRI–RCN Money Follows Cooperation agreement. In practice, a Japan-based collaborator should not be treated as a substitute for an eligible UK lead organisation.
Funding, costs, and project design
The maximum full economic cost is £593,750, and EPSRC funds 80% of that cost, up to £475,000. EPSRC will fund only the UK component. The page also states that there is no additional institutional matched-funding requirement beyond the standard 20% full economic cost. Third-party partner cash or in-kind contributions are encouraged, but applicants should distinguish those contributions from costs requested from EPSRC.
The grant can include equipment from £25,000 to £400,000 per item. Quotes do not have to be attached at application stage, but applicants should retain quotes for equipment costing more than £138,000, because EPSRC may request them after the panel and before releasing funds. The budget should therefore show why each major item is necessary, who will use it, when it is needed, and how it supports a named work package.
Travel and subsistence requests should cover only the UK part of the project. The Japanese partner is expected to seek funding for its own travel and subsistence from MEXT. A joint plan can still include exchanges, tests, workshops, and shared analysis; the budget must simply allocate each cost to the correct funding side.
What the UK application includes
The project lead starts an application in the UKRI Funding Service, not Je-S. The lead research organisation is the only organisation that can submit the UK application. The lead completes the form, saves answers in the service or works offline before copying them in, checks the read-only version, sends it to the research office, and allows the research office to return it for corrections before final submission.
The principal narrative attachment is the Vision and Approach document. It may be no more than 12 sides of A4, single-spaced, in 11-point Arial or an equivalent sans-serif font, with margins of at least 2 cm. It must include a one-page diagrammatic workplan and a separate project organisation diagram within that 12-page limit. It should also name the Japanese project lead. The file must be one PDF no larger than 8 MB and must use the Funding Service number in its filename, followed by “Vision and Approach.”
The form also asks for a 550-word plain-English summary, the UK core team, applicant and team capability, resources and cost justification, national importance, project partners, and relevant ethics or responsible-research information. The capability section has a 1,650-word limit: 1,150 words for the Résumé for Research and Innovation modules and, if needed, up to 500 words of additions. Resources and cost justification has a 1,000-word limit, while national importance has a 500-word limit.
How the applications will be assessed
The UK assessment areas are vision, approach, applicant and team capability to deliver, resources and cost justification, national importance, and ethics and responsible research and innovation. The published page does not assign percentage weights to these areas, so applicants should not manufacture a scoring formula. Instead, each section should reinforce the same argument.
The vision should establish an important question and explain the new knowledge or capability the work could create. The approach should show a technically credible route to an answer, including risks and mitigations. The capability narrative should use specific prior contributions to show that the named team can do the work; a long publication list without a connection to the proposed tasks is weaker evidence. The resources section should make the requested budget feel necessary and proportionate. The national-importance response should connect the work to the UK nuclear decommissioning sector, wider societal or economic needs, and knowledge exchange with potential users.
Both sides must rank highly for the project to be funded. The Japanese component is assessed in Japan, and the UK and Japan proposals are then considered by a joint UK–Japan expert panel. One side cannot be funded without the other. This makes coordination quality part of competitiveness, not merely an administrative detail.
A practical preparation plan
Start with a one-page partnership brief. Write the shared problem, the four-field programme fit, the UK work, the Japan work, the expected result, and the reason the work must be done jointly. If the two leads cannot describe the same project in matching language, the application is not ready.
Next, build the 36-month workplan backward from 31 December 2029. Put dependencies on it: access approvals, procurement, facility time, data transfer, safety review, experiments, modelling, validation, and dissemination. Mark which milestones belong to both countries and which belong to one side. This will expose gaps before they become narrative problems.
Then prepare the budget with the research office. Separate the UK request from Japanese costs, check the 80% FEC calculation, document large-equipment assumptions, and identify partner contributions. Use the cost justification to explain choices, not to repeat every line of the finance spreadsheet.
Finally, map evidence to the assessment areas. Select a small number of prior results, facilities, partnerships, or deployments that demonstrate capability for this exact project. Ask a colleague outside the immediate specialism to read the summary and explain the proposed benefit. The official deadline is 4:00 p.m. UK time, but the institution may set an earlier internal deadline for approvals and submission checks.
Common mistakes to avoid
The most serious error is submitting a UK proposal without a genuinely coordinated Japan-side application. A letter saying that a Japanese group is interested is not the same as a matched workplan and parallel submission.
Another mistake is requesting Japanese costs from EPSRC. EPSRC funds the UK component, and the call specifically says that the Japanese partner should request its own funds from MEXT. Similarly, regular travel between the countries should not be presented as though either side’s budget rules do not apply.
Do not exceed the 12-page Vision and Approach limit or omit the required workplan and organisation diagram. Do not put Japanese staff in the UK core-team list when EPSRC will not fund them through the UK application. Do not assume that a large equipment request is self-justifying; explain its role and retain the required quotations.
Avoid a broad promise to “solve decommissioning.” Reviewers need a bounded research question, a method, a defensible risk plan, and a path from evidence to use. Also avoid treating the four priority fields as a checklist. Pick the field or combination that the work can actually serve, and make every work package answer that choice.
Timeline and official next steps
The call opened on 16 June 2026. EPSRC must receive the UK application by 4:00 p.m. UK time on 8 September 2026; late submissions cannot be made through the Funding Service. The project must start on 1 January 2027 and end no later than 31 December 2029. UK and Japan components are assessed through linked national processes and a joint expert panel. The official page does not confirm a final decision date, so applicants should treat outcome timing as not confirmed rather than planning around an invented date.
Before applying, confirm four things: the UK lead organisation is eligible; the Japanese partner has an appropriate submission route; the proposal fits one or more named fields; and the research office can complete its checks before the external deadline. Then use the official UKRI opportunity page to start the UK application and review the current Funding Service questions. Programme-specific questions can be sent to [email protected]. System questions should go to the Funding Service helpdesk at [email protected].
Frequently asked questions
Can a Japan-based researcher submit the UK application?
No. The UK lead must be a UK-based researcher at an eligible research organisation, and only the lead research organisation can submit to EPSRC. The Japan-based team submits its own component through the Japanese route.
Does the £475,000 cover the whole international project?
No. It is the EPSRC contribution for the UK component, calculated as 80% of a UK project full economic cost of up to £593,750. The Japanese component is funded separately through MEXT’s process.
Can the project start later than 1 January 2027?
The official UKRI guidance requires a fixed start date of 1 January 2027 and an end date no later than 31 December 2029. A later start should not be assumed to be acceptable.
Is matched funding required?
There is no additional institutional matched-funding requirement beyond the standard 20% full economic cost. Direct and in-kind contributions from third-party project partners are encouraged, but they do not replace the need to cost the UK work correctly.
Are international researchers excluded?
Not completely. The call says international researchers can apply as project co-lead (international) only when the UKRI–RCN Money Follows Cooperation agreement is used. The normal lead still needs to meet the UK-based eligibility requirement.
What if the work does not involve radioactive materials directly?
The call includes robotics, autonomous systems, monitoring, risk management, digital twins, artificial intelligence, data analysis, and modelling. Direct handling of radioactive material is not stated as a universal requirement, but the project must still address a real decommissioning problem within the published scope.
Where can I confirm the current requirements?
Use the EPSRC and UKRI Funding Finder page. It contains the scope, eligibility, Funding Service instructions, application-question limits, assessment areas, deadline, and contact details. Coordinate any Japan-side requirements with the Japanese project lead rather than relying on a summary written for the UK application.