Nuclear Turbines funding round brings BAE spinout out of stealth

Nuclear Turbines funding of £15 million has brought the Manchester energy startup out of stealth, with IQ Capital leading the round. The BAE Systems spinout is developing compact modular nuclear systems that it says could cut the cost of nuclear electricity to one-fifth of today’s plants, a claim that will need to be proved in engineering tests and regulation.

Rhapsody Venture Partners, Zero Carbon Capital and Empirical Ventures also joined the round. Nuclear Turbines did not announce a valuation, revenue, customer commitments or current headcount. The company said the capital will go toward design work, large-scale test rigs and team expansion.

The startup was founded in 2025 by Jeremy Owston, a former principal engineer at BAE Systems, and professor Tim Abram, a nuclear engineer. It was created with Empirical Ventures’ venture studio and spun out of BAE Systems, the UK defence group.

What is Nuclear Turbines building?

Nuclear Turbines says it is trying to lower nuclear power costs by replacing conventional steam turbine systems with high-temperature turbine technology more commonly used in jet engines and gas-fired power generation. The company says that turbine approach is paired with a new reactor design built around cheaper power generation rather than the other way around.

Owston said the company began with the lowest-cost route to generating power and then designed a reactor to fit that system. He framed the company’s goal as supplying energy that is both clean and cheap enough to support reindustrialisation and climate targets.

The company’s pitch sits adjacent to the small modular reactor market, but it is presenting the turbine and reactor combination as a way to address cost and scale constraints that have slowed nuclear deployment. Nuclear Turbines says its systems would be compact enough for “behind the meter” use at industrial sites, including data centres, manufacturing facilities and other power-intensive infrastructure. In practice, behind-the-meter generation means power produced and consumed on-site rather than bought through the public grid.

The timing is pointed. The UK government is seeking a new generation of nuclear plants as electricity demand rises and as the country works toward net zero targets. Nuclear Turbines also says its plans align with the 2025 government-commissioned Nuclear Regulatory Review, which called for a radical reset of UK nuclear regulation.

For technology operators, the data centre angle is the clearest commercial hook. Power availability and price have become limiting factors for AI and cloud infrastructure buildout, and nuclear startups are increasingly pitching industrial customers on dedicated clean power. Nuclear Turbines has not disclosed deployment timelines, licensing milestones or signed customers, so the £15 million round is best read as early engineering capital rather than evidence of commercial readiness.

This story draws on original reporting from Tech.eu.