Latest News

On 8 March AWE marked International Women’s Day – a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women and raising awareness about gender equality. This year’s theme of ‘Break the Bias’ featured in a series of events. The day’s virtual events started with a panel discussion – featuring guest panellists from […]

AWE is incredibly proud to announce that it has achieved a prestigious silver award and been ranked within the top 200 companies for the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index (WEI) 2022.The Stonewall WEI is a benchmarking tool that assesses a company’s achievements and progress on LGBTQ+ equality. AWE is com​mitted to equality at work and to […]

11 February is International Women and Girls in Science Day, a day dedicated to recognising the achievements of women across the field to inspire girls to study science at school and empower women to pursue a scientific career. We spoke to Paula Rosen, Materials Physics Team Leader, about her career at AWE and what we […]

AWE’s latest supercomputer, Vulcan, entered active service just before Christmas, boosting AWE’s impressive research and simulation capabilities even further. At Vulcan’s official opening ceremony AWE CEO Alison Atkinson and executive directors Andrew Randewich and Tony Mather were joined by VIPs from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), including Mark Armstrong, vice-president and general manager EMEA HPC, and […]

We are delighted to announce that Paula Rosen has been awarded Fellow status by the UK Institute of Physics (IOP). This is their highest category of membership and is awarded following a rigorous application process involving an external sponsor and an independent review panel. Paula is a Team Leader in Material Physics where she manages […]

Since 2016 AWE, in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Engineering and the University of Bristol, has supported a fellowship at the University of Bristol, led by Professor Tom Scott. Prof. Scott’s research and eminence in materials science has contributed to AWE’s work, in particular the development of radiation detection and mapping technologies. The relationship […]

AWE is celebrating a hat-trick with success in all of its shortlisted categories at the recent Employee Benefits Awards 2021. These industry awards recognise excellence and celebrate those who have made a significant difference through their reward and benefits strategies. AWE had success in all of the three categories that it was shortlisted for – […]

AWE welcomes the Chief Nuclear Inspector’s Annual Report 2020/21 published today (19 October 2021) by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR). We are pleased that the ONR acknowledges continued safety improvements in many areas at our Aldermaston and Burghfield sites over the reporting period (1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021). A decision will be […]

AWE has published its latest Gender Pay Gap Report. The report covers data for this year and last year in line with Government publications guidance during the COVID 19 pandemic. Read more here

AWE‘s Chief Executive Officer, Alison Atkinson, has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. She is one of 69 academics, business leaders and innovators elected to the Fellowship, for their outstanding contributions to engineering and technology.

On 17 August, the United States’ Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) announced that it had obtained a 1.3 MegaJoule (MJ) yield of neutron energy at its National Ignition Facility (NIF). AWE welcomes this very significant achievement, a scientific first. Such high energy ignited plasmas are a very valuable tool in the process of underwriting nuclear […]

 A legacy of innovation Since its beginnings, AWE has been synonymous with innovation in defence. We have pioneered advanced capabilities, facilities, and cutting-edge research for UK’s nuclear deterrence programme. Recently, we commissioned a new supercomputer called Damson, capable of performing 4.3 million billion calculations per second. Orion, one of the largest lasers in the world, […]

AWE Blacknest is home to AWE’s Forensic Seismology team. Here, techniques are developed to distinguish seismic signals generated by underground nuclear explosions from those generated by earthquakes. This work is pivotal to the UK’s verification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which bans any nuclear weapons test explosion or any other nuclear explosion. This year, […]

AWE is proud to announce that scientist John Bradshaw has been made an Honorary Fellow of the Society for Radiological Protection (SRP). The SRP is the principal independent professional body for radiation protection in the UK and a learned focus for both understanding radiation hazards and solutions, and providing information to government, industry and the public […]

AWE’s Dave Castle IEng RCADMan FIED MBCS CITP is the new Chair of the Institution of Engineering Designers (IED) the professional membership body for designers working in the fields of engineering and product design. Dave was elected vice-Chair in 2018, Chair-Elect in early 2021 and officially took up his new role following the IED’s AGM […]

The last year may have put much site-based working on hold but it has not put an end to scientific collaboration, which has continued to flourish despite the restrictions caused by Covid-19. One such example is a recent project bringing together AWE and NPL, the UK’s National Metrology Institute, to support resilient timing in the […]

Today (1 July 2021), AWE plc, the company operating the Atomic Weapons Establishments (AWE), becomes a Non-Departmental Public Body, wholly owned by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). This change in operating model, announced last year in November, will further strengthen the relationship between the MOD and AWE plc, enhancing the management of the UK’s nuclear […]

On 23rd June, AWE celebrated International Women in Engineering Day – an international awareness campaign which raises the profile of women in engineering and celebrates the amazing things women engineers do. The day also serves to inspire others to embark on a career in engineering. Celebrating its 8th year, International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) began in […]

AWE has surpassed itself by coming 21st in the list of the 2021 Top 25 Best Big Companies to work for – up by three places on its 2019 position! The Best Big Companies award is open to companies with over 2,000 employees – with those achieving the highest Best Companies Index (BCI) scores featuring […]

Last week, we celebrated 61 years of the laser. Colin Danson, Distinguished Scientist at AWE and Academic Access Manager for Orion, spoke to Physics World about the latest in the world of high-power laser development and innovation. Listen to the episode of Physics World Weekly here