HS2 has started excavation of the final tunnel bore on the 140-mile railway between central London and the West Midlands – marking a significant milestone for the project.

The last of 11 tunnelling machines built for the project started its drive from Old Oak Common station in west London towards Euston – the railway’s terminus. The tunnel boring machine (TBM) is named Karen after Karen Harrison, one of the first female train drivers in the UK, who drove out of Old Oak Common depot.

Guest: Squadron Leader David Littlemore, Executive Officer, Cyber & Specialist Operations Command, Infrastructure, RAF
Interviewed by: Antony Oliver

In this episode of the podcast we are explore the way the UK Armed Services has been radically upping its game in terms of the support, promotion and development of professional engineering careers.

To do this, I'm joined today by Squadron Leader David Littlemore from the Royal Air Force, currently executive officer infrastructure at Cyber and Specialist Operations Command.

Your questions answered on the impact of recent conflict in the Middle East.

UK gas supply

The UK’s gas supply will not be disrupted.  

While the UK does import some liquified natural gas (LNG) from the Gulf, we benefit from strong and diverse energy supplies.

This includes our own North Sea production, pipelines with Norway, interconnectors with continental Europe and three LNG terminals.  

Only about 1% of the UK’s gas supply in 2025 came from Qatar. We have no reason to expect it would be significantly different in 2026 or beyond.  

The Energy Secretary outlines measures to protect consumers and make Britain energy secure.

The Energy Secretary will today (Sunday 15 March) outline a package of measures to go “further and faster” in the pursuit of national energy security as a response to events in the Middle East.  

The Energy Secretary is today setting out an accelerated package of energy interventions to boost the UK’s energy security:

Great British Energy - Nuclear has been granted an electricity generating licence - required by all electricity generating companies - by the UK's gas and electricity markets regulator Ofgem.

An interim report on options for the full restoration of the New Safe Confinement's protective functions is due to be presented later this month. Serhii Tarakanov, Director General of SSE Chornobyl NPP, says the aim is for the repair work to be completed by 2030.

Ahead of the presentation of the report to the 31 March meeting of the International Chernobyl Cooperation Account, the plant, the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development, Bouygues and Vinci discussed the proposals for the restoration work.

California-based startup Deep Fission, which aims to place small modular reactors in boreholes a mile underground, has begun drilling the first of three planned data acquisition wells in Parsons, Kansas, where it is building its pilot project.

The well will be drilled to a depth of approximately 6,000 feet (1,830 metres) and will have a diameter of roughly eight inches (20 centimetres). The three planned wells represents the initial phase of site characterisation and engineering validation.

The UK's Rolls-Royce SMR has signed a memorandum of understanding with strategic and technical consultancy and project development company Equilibrion to collaborate on a technical and economic assessment of sustainable aviation fuel produced using small modular reactors.

Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority has declared that the site of the country's first nuclear reactor is no longer classified as a nuclear facility following the dismantling of the Finnish Reactor 1 in Espoo.

A joint venture led by Amentum (NYSE: AMTM) has won a new framework contract as the lead decommissioning and waste management contractor for nuclear research sites in four European countries.

Under the $112 million (€95.7 million) contract, awarded by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), the Amentum-led JV will provide decommissioning solutions to accelerate the clean-up efforts of JRC sites in Ispra (Italy), Karlsruhe (Germany), Geel (Belgium) and Petten (The Netherlands).

A 1.5-mile section of the Grand Union Canal, owned by the charity, Canal & River Trust, has reopened to the public – seven days ahead of schedule - after HS2 engineers successfully launched a 130-metre-long steel bridge into position over the canal.

The launch operation, which began on Wednesday, 4th March, involved sliding the 1,620-tonne deck across a country road, canal, and towpath near Ufton in Warwickshire.

Guest: Mark Coates, Vice President of Infrastructure Policy Advancement, Bentley Systems
Interviewed by: Antony Oliver

In this episode we dive into the infrastructure sector’s journey towards digitisation, decarbonisation and modernisation – a journey which to be honest, seems like one that we have been on for some time.