AWE

AWE plc is owned by a consortium of Jacobs Engineering Group, Lockheed Martin UK and Serco through AWE Management Ltd who hold a 25 year contract (until March 2025) to operate AWE. All AWE sites remain owned by the UK government who also hold a Golden Share in AWE plc.

The company is based close to Aldermaston (although the nearest town is Tadley in Hampshire), with major facilities at Burghfield. AWE has two major sites, both based in Berkshire: AWE Aldermaston and AWE Burghfield.

The company’s headquarters is AWE Aldermaston, which covers approximately 750 acres. Formerly a wartime airfield, the site is now a sophisticated centre providing advanced research, design and manufacturing facilities.

AWE Burghfield, a former munitions factory, occupies a 225 acre site and is responsible for the complex final assembly and maintenance of the warheads while in service, as well as their decommissioning.

AWE also has an outlying facility; Blacknest where seismological research is undertaken in support of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Since 1951 both sites have supported the UK Atomic Weapons Programme with Aldermaston primarily involved in research and Burghfield producing various component parts and assembling the weapons. Direct employment at both sites is estimated to have peaked at around 6000 people.

Manufacturing plays a key role in delivering AWE’s mission to maintain and assure continuity of the UK’s nuclear weapon stockpile - a vital element of the overall defence strategy of the United Kingdom.

Manufacturing operations are undertaken in various facilities across both the Aldermaston and Burghfield sites. AWE’s manufacturing encompasses a diverse range of materials and processes including precision component manufacture, explosives formulation, fissile material production, rubbers and plastics, and warhead assembly and disassembly. The Manufacturing community also undertakes process technology development, material stewardship and supporting assurance services and manufacturing systems.

Component manufacture is undertaken in support of the UK’s nuclear weapon stockpile, in addition to hydrodynamic trials and research and development programmes. Many of AWE’s manufacturing processes and materials present unique challenges that are not present within a conventional manufacturing environment.

Some of the materials require specialised handling, processing and storage solutions due to their hazardous nature and many components are manufactured to very tight tolerances, from materials that are not easily formed or machined. This requires significant cutting-edge materials research and technology development, in order to manufacture and underwrite the components as safe and fit for purpose.

Nuclear Warheads are assembled and disassembled in purpose built facilities using dedicated suites of tooling and stringent working practices. In order to underwrite the continued safety and functionality of the UK nuclear deterrent, production areas across AWE also undertake surveillance activities involving processing and detailed forensic examination of components from disassembled nuclear warheads.

The manufacturing operations at AWE are supported by a range of specialist functions and systems including assurance, production planning, manufacturing engineering, tooling and container design and manufacture, materials development and facility management.