Guest: Sally Gimson, author of "Off the Rails - the inside story of HS2"
Interviewed by: Antony Oliver

In this bumper post summer special episode we return to the HS2 project - infrastructure’s poster child for delay and cost overrun – as we discuss the content of a brand new book examining how this project went, as the title suggests, so badly Off the Rails.

The NDA group has been allocated £154 million in government funding to develop specialised capabilities to enable plutonium disposal.

People in North West England are benefitting from £154 million in government funding to develop specialised capabilities to enable the disposal of the UK’s civil plutonium inventory.

100 jobs will be supported, the majority in Cumbria, after the government decided to immobilise the material, a product of nuclear fuel reprocessing, which will mitigate the long-term security risks.

The number of unemployed people transitioning into jobs on HS2 is continuing to grow. Figures released today (28, August 2025), show that in the last three months, a further 168 people who were out of work are now helping to build Britain’s new railway.

In total, 5,191 jobseekers have benefitted from specialist training and support to help them to progress into new careers on the project.

Energy Coast West Cumbria Ltd (BEC) has been commissioned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and Cumberland Council to undertake targeted market engagement around the potential development of clean energy on land adjacent to Sellafield.

This follows the Government’s announcement back in June, asking the NDA and the Council to work together to explore how this land could support the UK’s energy security – while also creating new jobs and driving economic growth for our region.

Guests: Amentum's Andy White and GLE's Nima Ashkeboussi
Presented by: Alex Hunt. Co-produced and mixed by Pixelkisser Production

Andy White talks about the huge range of work Amentum is doing in the UK and internationally, from pre-project planning to decommissioning. We also hear from Nima Ashkeboussi about Global Laser Enrichment's technology and growth plans.

Topics covered by White, senior vice president of Energy and Environment International at Amentum, include:

Fusion energy developer Helion Energy announced it has begun initial earthwork and construction on the site of Orion power plant in Malaga, in the US state of Washington. The plant will provide electricity to technology company Microsoft.

Helion is developing what it says is a cost-effective, zero-carbon electrical power plant using its patented pulsed, non-ignition fusion technology. The company says its fusion power plant will provide "flexible, scalable, baseload power that is affordable, providing the world a new path to full decarbonisation of electricity generation".

Engineers working on HS2’s London tunnels began lifting the last of four giant tunnelling machines to the surface over the bank holiday weekend.

The first part of ‘Anne’ – including the 9.11m diameter cutterhead – saw the light of day for the first time in 16 months as it was lifted out of a shaft at Green Park Way in Greenford, west London, on Sunday 24th August.

Weighing a total of 1,700 tonnes and stretching for around 150m, the huge Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) must be lifted out of the shaft in sections using a giant gantry crane.

Guest:  Lord Adair Turner, chair of the Energy Transitions Commission
Interviewed by: Antony Oliver

In this podcast we focus on decarbonising the UK’s vast building stock.

The global buildings sector is one of the most essential but also perhaps the most overlooked frontiers in the fight against climate change.

Homes, offices, shops, schools, and factories - they're where we live, where we work, and where we gather. They are the fabric of our society.

Sizewell C is gearing up to hold its second Ipswich-based careers fair of 2025, following a series of successful events across Suffolk.

Taking place at the University of Suffolk on Wednesday 27 August, the event will bring together more than 20 supply chain partners to showcase the wide range of jobs, apprenticeships, and training opportunities available during the construction and operation of the nuclear power plant.

More than 25,000 tonnes of material have been used to safely backfill the basement structure of a demolished turbine hall by NRS at Dungeness A site, Kent.

Originally constructed in 1965, the turbine hall stood 26 metres above ground level and housed four turbogenerators that converted nuclear heat into electricity for the National Grid. Following demolition of the turbine hall a decade ago, a large basement void remained, which has now been safely filled.

GRAHAM has been appointed by Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) to deliver its critical infrastructure framework at the Low-Level Waste Repository in Cumbria.

The £49.6 million Integrated Site Works Framework (ISWF) is a four-year contract that will deliver a wide range of site infrastructure and operational support projects.

This includes replacing or upgrading ageing critical infrastructure, carrying out demolition and remediation works, installing and commissioning new operational systems and supporting future operations at the Repository site.

GRAHAM has been appointed by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council as the contractor to finalise the design for the Fermanagh Lakeland Forum redevelopment.

This flagship Council project will see the construction of a new state-of-the-art leisure, health and wellbeing hub in Enniskillen, which will be designed and built to the very highest level of environmental sustainability.