UKAEA Modern Slavery Statement: 2024/2025
Source: gov.uk (2025-08-18)

UKAEA's commitment to preventing slavery and human trafficking in its corporate activities.

Preface

This Modern Slavery Act statement (the “Statement”) is made pursuant to section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and has been approved by Tim Bestwick, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, on 14 August 2025.

Introduction

The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) is one of the world’s leading fusion research laboratories, where our scientists and engineers are working with partners around the globe to develop fusion as a new source of cleaner energy for tomorrow’s power stations.

Our mission is to deliver sustainable fusion energy and maximise scientific and economic benefit. However, we also recognise that we currently live in a world where slavery and human trafficking happens, and we will take all necessary steps to eradicate the occurrence of these practices in our supply chain.

We will ensure our policies and procedures are robust, transparent and promote ethical business practices. We will work with our partners and suppliers to eliminate any activity that is connected to modern slavery or human trafficking, and to create an environment which does not tolerate these practices, in any shape or form.

Background

UKAEA is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. The authority is a research organisation which is responsible for the development of nuclear power through fusion reactions.

The Authority’s mission is to ‘deliver sustainable fusion power and maximise scientific and economic benefits’, which will deliver both scientific and economic benefits, driving growth and jobs in hi-tech industries, across the United Kingdom.

Supply chain and due diligence

UKAEA has an international reputation for scientific excellence, safety and impartiality, championing a culture of quality, inclusion and diversity, valuing and harnessing this throughout the supply chain. All supplier contracts are required to comply with relevant UKAEA policies, national and international legislation. Our UKAEA Supply Chain Charter outlines the principles of how we and our suppliers will work together in a safe and collaborative manner.

Procurement is managed by a dedicated commercial function within the organisation, who work in accordance with established UKAEA policies and procedures which provide transparency and oversight of all transactions.

We use external specialists to regularly audit our systems and processes. UKAEA holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certification and is committed to continuous improvement. As part of that commitment, we review our procurement processes to ensure they highlight any activities that might indicate the abuse of human rights or modern slavery and provide oversight of our supply chain.

Training

UKAEA has implemented mandatory training that all staff are required to complete and which all new starters must complete within the first 2 weeks of joining the organisation. This course is designed to educate users on the forms of modern slavery, how to recognise it, and how to report it.

In addition to this, we promote the Government Commercial College’s tackling modern slavery in supply chains course to our commercial professionals. This training is designed to increase understanding of how to identify and mitigate modern slavery in supply chains through the commercial lifecycle.

Assessing and managing risk

UKAEA aligns with the government Social Value Model. Modern slavery features under Theme 6 of the model, “tackle workforce inequality”.

In accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 and subsequent updates to public procurement notices (PPNs), we are transitioning to the revised Social Value Model outlined in PPN 002. This updated model includes enhanced measures to address modern slavery risks and introduces increased social value reporting which UKAEA will capture via Thrive, our social value monitoring tool. We also include Modern Slavery considerations in our procurement process, as defined in PPN 009.

Relevant policies

We will not tolerate slavery or human trafficking in our business or supply chain. UKAEA maintains a suite of policies that set out our expectations and standards that all employees and contractors must adhere to. These policies are outlined below:

National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) - UKAEA will comply with set out strategic priorities for public procurement that came into effect 24 February 2025.

-Supply Chain Management - UKAEA will comply with all relevant legislation, regulations, codes of practice and other requirements applicable to management of the supply chain including with the Bribery Act 2010, the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and PPN 009.

Continuous Improvement - UKAEA will comply with government functional standards and seek to continually improve practices.
- Fraud, corruption and malpractice;
- Criminal or illegal behaviour;
- Failure to deliver proper standards of service (e.g., fail to comply with legal obligations);
- An attempt to cover up any of the above.
Ethics - UKAEA is committed to removing modern-day slavery and human trafficking from any part of its business and supply chain including any organisations with which UKAEA collaborates.

Counter Fraud - UKAEA will take disciplinary action and/or criminal proceedings whenever and wherever fraud or malpractice is identified.

Business Practices - UKAEA is committed to carrying out its research, engineering design, enterprise and other activities in a way that demonstrates high standards of ethical and professional behaviour. It expects all those that undertake work on UKAEA’s behalf to demonstrate high standards of ethical and professional behaviour.
- People - We will clearly articulate our values, behavioural and performance expectations, incorporating these into our systems and practices and our interactions with government, industry and stakeholders. We actively promote equality, and we value diversity. We also believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity, respect and compassion. UKAEA’s policy manual is reviewed routinely.