Nuclear Turbines: BAE Systems’ Spinout Raises £15M to Slash Nuclear Power Costs with Jet-Engine Tech

Nuclear power has a cost problem. While it produces reliable, carbon-free electricity, the price tag for building and operating a traditional plant — with its massive steam turbines, cooling towers, and secondary loop systems — has made it increasingly hard to compete with cheaper renewables and gas. A new UK startup thinks it has a radically simpler answer: ditch the steam entirely and borrow the gas turbines found in jet engines.

Nuclear Turbines is a Manchester-based advanced-nuclear startup spun out of defense giant BAE Systems in 2024. In July 2026, it emerged from stealth with a £15 million foundational funding round led by IQ Capital, alongside Rhapsody Venture Partners, Zero Carbon Capital, and Empirical Ventures, with continued support from BAE Systems. The company claims its approach could produce electricity at roughly one-fifth the levelised cost of today's nuclear plants — potentially making nuclear cheaper than fossil fuels and competitive with intermittent renewables.

What makes Nuclear Turbines different?

The core innovation is a straight swap: instead of using a nuclear reactor to heat water, create steam, and spin a bulky steam turbine (the method used by virtually every nuclear plant since the 1950s), Nuclear Turbines integrates a compact reactor directly with a high-temperature gas turbine — the same kind of technology found in jet engines and fighter aircraft.

The reactor heats compressed air directly, which then feeds into the turbine at high temperature and pressure to generate electricity. This eliminates the need for a secondary steam loop, the massive cooling towers, and much of the supporting infrastructure that makes conventional nuclear plants so expensive and slow to build.

Who founded Nuclear Turbines?

The company was founded by Jeremy Owston, a former BAE Systems principal engineer, and Professor Tim Abram, an internationally recognized nuclear engineer. The startup was developed through BAE Systems' Launchpad initiative and in partnership with Empirical Ventures' venture studio.

How much funding has it raised, and who led the round?

Nuclear Turbines closed a £15 million (approximately $19.9 million) foundational round in July 2026. The round was led by IQ Capital, a UK deep-tech venture capital firm. Participating investors included Rhapsody Venture Partners, Zero Carbon Capital, and Empirical Ventures, with BAE Systems continuing to support the spinout.

What are its deployment and cost goals?

Nuclear Turbines plans to validate its reactor design, build large-scale test rigs, and prepare for manufacturing — specifically, factory-built, transportable compact modular reactors. This is a distinct approach from larger small modular reactors (SMRs) that still rely on steam turbines. The company envisions reactors compact enough to deploy at industrial sites, factories, or even data centers, designed to operate behind the meter without needing to feed into the national grid.

On cost, the company's headline target is a one-fifth reduction in levelised cost of electricity compared with today's nuclear plants. If realized, that would make nuclear power cheaper than most fossil-fuel generation and cost-competitive with solar and wind, while providing 24/7 baseload power.

Caveats and what comes next

Nuclear Turbines is still in the design and validation phase. The company has not announced a valuation, revenue, customer commitments, or current headcount. Its cost claims are projections that will need to be proven through engineering tests and regulatory approval — a process that typically takes years for any new reactor design.

Still, the wave of private capital flowing into UK advanced nuclear startups suggests growing confidence that radical simplification, not incremental improvement, may be the path to making nuclear power affordable again.