New Harwell plant up and running - Dounreay Site Restoration Limited

For and about the 

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority 

New Harwell plant 

up and running 

Copeland 

MP visits 

Jamie Reed, MP for Copeland, visited 

Windscale in July and was given an update 

on the decommissioning progress that the 

Windscale team is making on site. He met 

with members of the senior management 

team and the transition team, as well as 

safety and union representatives. 

“As the local MP and a keen advocate of 

the nuclear industry, Jamie has always 

taken a keen interest in Windscale and is 

interested in hearing the thoughts and 

views of the staff,” said Head of Site, Peter 

Mann. “We very much appreciate that he 

took the time to visit us.” 

Jamie Reed MP with union representatives and members of the senior team 

A new plant is up and running at Harwell, 

having been safely completed on schedule 

and on budget, and meeting one of Harwell’s 

PBIs in the process. 

The Harwell Groundwater Containment 

Plant (HGCP) was built to replace an existing 

plant which, although very successful, 

was at the end of its design life. 

Project Manager Jon Blackmore said, 

“The design of the new plant has been well 

thought out, with some big improvements 

compared to the old plant. For example, 

remote monitoring and operation of the new 

plant is possible using a PC, which is great 

for checking up on the plant during silent 

hours. Many of the improvements were a 

result of getting the plant operator’s input at 

the design stage.” 

The purpose of the groundwater containment 

scheme is to prevent chemically-contaminated 

groundwater moving away from the Western 

Storage Area (WSA). The contamination of 

groundwater in the chalk aquifer occurred as 

a result of the disposal of chemical wastes 

into unlined pits at the WSA in the 1970s and 

1980s. 

Since the problem was identified in the 

early 1990s, UKAEA has been carrying out 

Continued on page 2 

Issue : 92 

September 

2007 

Safety balancing 

act : 4 

RM2 prepares 

for action : 6 

Beneath the 

waves : 7 

Thorium arrives 

back : 8 

Plus all the news 

from your site… 

Culham Dounreay Harwell Windscale Winfrith

2 

Annual site reviews ■ Windscale transition 

New Harwell plant 

up and running 

Continued from page 1 

a programme of work to tackle the contamination. As a result of 

that work, which included removal of the chemical wastes from 

the pits in 2004 and the ongoing work to clean up the unsaturated 

zone at the WSA, great improvements have been seen in 

the quality of groundwater at the WSA. However, it is estimated 

that it may take 20 years to reach the final clean-up standards. 

Following an options study (BPEO) in 2004, a contract for the 

design and build of the plant was placed in October 2005. The 

principal contractor Bilfinger Berger project managed a team of 

specialist sub-contractors including Rockbourne Environmental 

and Studsvik, all of whom contributed to the overall success of 

the project. 

Construction of the plant began in spring 2006, and was 

completed early in 2007. The new plant is now running successfully, 

and has helped UKAEA meet the first quarterly 

groundwater containment PBI. 

Treatment of the contaminated water is carried out using 

granular activated carbon (GAC), one of the components of a 

domestic water filter. HGCP has six mobile GAC filter units, of 

which four are in use at any one time. Once their treatment 

capacity is used up, the filters are taken away by lorry. The GAC 

is regenerated at an off-site facility, where the contaminants are 

destroyed. This process allows the GAC to be re-used rather 

than being sent to landfill. 

Careful design has resulted in the removal of the need for 

routine confined space and working at height operations, 

improving plant safety. 

A number of other design improvements have been made over 

the old plant. Variable speed borehole pumps allow greatly 

improved control of the amount of water pumped from each 

borehole, while reducing the amount of electricity used. 

Energy consumption by HGCP is expected to be lower than 

for the old plant, despite being capable of treating up to 2,000 

cubic metres of water per day, compared to 1,200 with the old 

plant. 

The final part of the project will be the decommissioning of 

old plant, which is scheduled to be complete by the end of 

March 2008. 

Jon Blackmore (right) checks the Groundwater Containment Plant 

with a colleague 

A year of progress 

Annual reports of the 

decommissioning progress 

made at UKAEA’s Dounreay, 

Harwell and Winfrith sites were 

published in July and August. 

As well as reporting on key 

safety, restoration, 

decommissioning and waste 

management landmarks during 

2006/07, the reviews include 

site messages from local NDA 

Directors. 

Dounreay 

In his comments, Randall 

Bargelt, NDA, Deputy Director, 

Dounreay addressed the 

difficulties of funding 

uncertainty during the year, 

noting that after some hard 

work “… sufficient funds were 

secured to finish off the year 

and to provide a more secure 

platform for 2007/08 and the 

immediate years thereafter.” 

He also addressed staff 

concerns about the possible 

effect of upcoming competition 

on jobs, safety and the 

community. “Competition will 

not greatly impact upon the 

Dounreay workforce,” he said. 

“Most if not all the existing 

workforce will continue to work 

at the Dounreay site, possibly 

The transition project team 

working on the amalgamation 

of the Sellafield and Windscale 

sites is now well established 

and work is progressing 

positively. 

The project is led jointly by 

Phil Scriven (UKAEA) and 

Chris Darwin (Sellafield Ltd). 

Martin Colder has been 

appointed as the Project 

Manager working full time on 

the project. Workstream leaders 

from UKAEA and Sellafield 

Ltd (previously British Nuclear 

Group) have been identified for 

key work areas and are working 

together with their respective 

teams to ensure the success of 

the project. 

Fortnightly progress meetings 

are held with workstream 

leaders and the project team to 

monitor progress against the 

programme and milestones. 

Outcomes of the progress 

meetings are reported to the 

under a new senior 

management team … NDA and 

the regulators will ensure that 

continuity is maintained in 

terms of posts and people, in 

order that the site continues to 

perform safely, securely and 

cleanly …” 

Turning to the potential 

impact on the local community, 

Randall said, “NDA is 

completely committed in 

helping to mitigate the effect of 

the loss of income to the North 

Highland economy from 

Dounreay’s eventual closure.” 

Harwell 

Peter Brazier, NDA Regional 

Director for Harwell, praised the 

progress made at Harwell on 

cleaning up the site, highlighting 

in particular the delicensing of 

the first substantial piece of 

land, and the satisfactory 

continuation of the programme 

to retrieve and repackage 

historic wastes for longer-term 

storage and eventual disposal. 

“With all this activity, I was 

particularly pleased to note that 

safety and environmental 

protection have not been 

allowed to slip down the 

agenda,” he observed. 

UKAEATODAY September 2007 

Winfrith 

Peter is also the NDA Regional 

Director for Winfrith. His 

introduction to the Winfrith 

Review focuses on major 

decommissioning and 

demolition achievements at the 

site, singling out for mention 

the decommissioning and 

removal of all above ground 

structures of building A59, the 

active handling building. 

Speaking of safety 

improvements on site, he said, 

“I am aware of many proactive 

safety initiatives that were 

introduced at Winfrith to ensure 

that UKAEA maintains and 

enhances this improvement.” 

A review covering Windscale 

will be published in the near 

future and Culham will be 

issuing an annual report on the 

fusion programme in the 

autumn. 

Copies of the reviews can be 

obtained from site 

Communications departments 

or downloaded from the 

UKAEA website at: 

www.ukaea.org.uk/news/ 

publications.htm 

Future of Windscale – Transition Project 

monthly Project Sponsoring 

Group (which includes the 

Windscale Head of Site, 

Sellafield Directors and the 

NDA). Regulators are also kept 

informed at a monthly 

Regulatory Working Group. 

Steering Group meetings are 

held on alternate weeks from 

the project progress meetings 

and the group members 

address any key areas which 

may have been raised through 

the unions, communications or 

HR teams. 

The project team has a 

communications plan which 

identifies opportunities that can 

be used to ensure that all 

relevant stakeholders are 

updated on progress and activities. 

Where required, workshops 

are held to provide detailed 

information on specific areas of 

interest. Staff talks and information 

rooms have been held at 

Windscale to great effect. 

One staff talk held for the 

Windscale team included 

presentations from Peter 

Lutwyche and Mike Middleton 

from the Sellafield Directorate, 

Head of Windscale Peter Mann, 

and UKAEA and Sellafield 

union representatives. It was an 

excellent opportunity for the 

Windscale team to meet the 

directors who will have responsibility 

for Windscale post 

transition. 

Management of change 

documentation for the project 

was recently approved by the 

UKAEA and Sellafield Nuclear 

Safety Committees and the 

documentation was submitted to 

the regulators for approval on 

11 June. 

It is envisaged that Windscale 

will begin shadow working in 

late autumn, with the target date 

of 1 April 2008 for amalgamation.

September 2007 UKAEATODAY 3 

Report and Accounts ■ Staff poll ■ Shared services ■ Inquiry office opens ■ SLC licensing ■ ILM 

Annual Report published 

UKAEA has issued its 2006/07 

Report and Accounts, covering 

the organisation’s activities and 

financial performance in the 

last financial year. 

The report documents a 

range of achievements in 

decommissioning and site 

regeneration as UKAEA, in 

partnership with AMEC and 

CH2M HILL, prepares to 

compete for the management of 

Nuclear Decommissioning 

Authority sites. The growth of 

UKAEA’s work in the wider 

nuclear clean-up market is also 

featured. 

In fusion research, important 

contributions have been made 

both at JET and in the UK 

programme, as Culham plays a 

key role in preparing for the 

international ITER project. 

The development of the 

Following further discussions with the regulators, 

it is currently expected that the NII will be able to 

relicense the three UKAEA SLC sites (Dounreay, 

Harwell/Winfrith and Windscale) separately, 

rather than simultaneously as previously planned. 

This is subject to the submission of adequate 

justification for separate relicensing, particularly 

to ensure that any sites awaiting relicensing can 

remain with UKAEA as their licensee. 

On this basis, it is still expected that Dounreay 

will be relicensed as DSRL on 1 April 2008 and 

that Windscale will be relicensed from the same 

date as part of Sellafield Ltd., following periods 

Harwell campus has continued, 

with UKAEA driving forward 

exciting plans to make the site a 

world centre for science and 

innovation. 

In her opening statement, 

UKAEA Chairman Barbara 

Thomas Judge said, “I am 

delighted with our progress this 

year. Since I joined the Board 

in 2002, the pace of progress at 

UKAEA has been accelerating 

and our staff have risen to the 

challenges this has entailed. I 

have no doubt that we will go 

on meeting these challenges 

and continue to provide an 

excellent service to the NDA 

and all our customers. 

“I would like to pay particular 

tribute to our employees and 

to our Board for their excellent 

overall contribution during this 

significant year.” 

UKAEA’s Report and 

Accounts is available at 

http://www.ukaea.org.uk/news/ 

publications_corporate.htm or 

hard copies can be obtained 

from the Communications 

Department at Harwell. 

Leadership qualifications 

Congratulations to all those people at Harwell 

and Winfrith who successfully completed an 

Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) 

qualification recently. 

Jane Murray, Jillian Sweeney and Alistair Poole 

were presented with certificates by the training 

team from Newcroft Training and Ian Wilson, 

UKAEA Skills and Training Manager, on the 

opening day of the new ILM course. This gave 

the newly qualified students an opportunity to 

offer a few words of advice and support to those 

just starting out on the course. 

Also qualifying but not able to attend the 

presentation were Amanda Harding, Marie 

Dimaline, Keeley Bond, Derek Tyrrell and Graham 

Bussey. 

Restructuring: latest news on SLCs 

of shadow working in both cases of around six 

months. The date of UKAEA Ltd’s formation 

would also remain April 2008. 

At Harwell/Winfrith, the period of shadow 

working is unlikely to start until the reorganisation 

is complete (both to form the cluster and to 

address funding availability). Relicensing will 

follow after the period of shadow working. 

UKAEA is discussing with the regulators how 

best to co-ordinate shadow working and 

relicensing with changes in the Harwell/Winfrith 

programme, which may result in a delay in 

relicensing beyond April 2008. 

Employee feedback 

The impact on staff morale from the tough environment in 

which UKAEA is currently operating, and the demands this 

placed on everyone, was recognised by the Transformation 

Steering Board (TSB) when they met in March. Several 

members, including Stephen White and Colin Butterworth, got 

together with Davie Alexander and five trades union colleagues, 

to explore the issues further. CEO Norman Harrison, joined a 

second meeting along with Alliance representatives. 

The open and frank discussions highlighted a range of factors 

affecting morale and potential ways of addressing these. 

Norman Harrison said, “I talk to as many people as possible 

as I go around the Authority but it was still really helpful to be 

able to join this discussion and hear views at first hand.” 

The meeting concluded that the issues tended to be in two 

groups. In one group were the early, short term or localised 

issues, including the impact of the Harwell/Winfrith funding 

position. These needed immediate and focused action, such 

as the arrangements being put in place for outplacement 

support to staff. In another group were the longer term issues, 

which sometimes needed more gradual changes in culture and 

attitude, some of which were reflected in the Action Plan from 

the Employee Survey. 

The next step is to find a way of turning this discussion 

forum into an action forum, under the auspices of the TSB, to 

ensure that all the various actions were joined up and taken 

forward, without creating additional unnecessary work for 

hard-pressed staff. 

Opportunities in 

shared services 

The recently announced Shared Services Alliance is looking at opportunities 

for savings in services, so that more NDA funding can be directed 

to decommissioning. Some sharing will come from combining subcontracts: 

one early possibility is combined arrangements for press 

cuttings from one supplier to all NDA sites and the NDA themselves. 

There will also be opportunities for individual SLCs to provide 

services to the NDA and other SLCs. UKAEA is looking at areas 

where we could do this, especially if it would have socio-economic 

benefits. No decisions have been made but UKAEA-provided 

services could include nuclear material accounting (with ATOM); 

IT; and laboratory and laundry services from Dounreay. 

Pete Mould, one of the team co-ordinating UKAEA input, said, 

“All the options will be subject to stringent business case assessment. 

There are four groups where options will be developed and 

tested – from utilities, transport, facilities services; through 

programme management and engineering services; to HR, telecoms, 

Finance; and some analytical and safety services.” 

UKAEA representatives will be closely involved in shared service 

discussions and will be making sure that proper provision is made 

for non-NDA parts of UKAEA, which will continue to need services 

outside this umbrella. 

The current focus is on establishing the Shared Services Alliance 

and achieving early efficiencies with allied savings, which will 

contribute to UKAEA’s fee for 2007/8. 

Redfern Inquiry 

The Redfern Inquiry has established an office and is keen to 

hear from anyone who believes they may be able to contribute 

to the Inquiry, whether with queries, concerns or information. 

It can be contacted: 

• by telephone: 0161 837 1554 

• by email: contact@theredferninquiry.co.uk 

• by letter: The Redfern Inquiry into Human Tissue Analysis in 

UK Nuclear Facilities, 7th Floor, 1 Byrom Place, Manchester, 

M3 3HG. 

UKAEA has started to provide some initial information and is 

liaising with the Inquiry about any further requirements they have.

4 

Safety & Health 

Striking the right balance 

As UKAEA Safety Director 

Mike Potts settles into his 

new role, UKAEA Today 

caught up with him to find 

out his first impressions 

and what he sees as his 

priorities. 

Q What’s your view of the 

safety standards at UKAEA? 

A The first thing to say is that 

I’m not only responsible for 

safety. My role is to provide 

assurance of safety, health, 

environment and security. 

There are common elements 

between these areas and it’s 

part of my job to make sure we 

keep a good balance between 

them. 

And we’re making very good 

progress in a challenging 

environment. Most of the 

standards by which we are 

measured show a positive 

trend. UKAEA compares very 

favourably with other industries 

as well as the nuclear industry. 

But we mustn’t be complacent 

and always look for areas and 

ways to improve. We 

constantly need to challenge 

ourselves and seek to improve 

our position to achieve 

excellence in safety, security 

and environmental 

management. 

“We’re making 

very good 

progress in a 

challenging 

environment. 

Most of the 

standards by 

which we are 

measured show a 

positive trend” 

Q Do you have any specific 

priorities? 

A Well, I was deputy to the 

previous director for three 

years, so I am very familiar with 

current events and activities 

within UKAEA. My main priority 

is to continue to build on that, 

in particular the Sustained 

Excellence programme, 

working with the site teams as 

the main vehicle for 

improvement. This covers: 

• Leadership 

• Behaviours 

• Process and plant safety 

• Assurance 

• Measuring and 

benchmarking 

I think these are and remain the 

key priorities to achieving 

improvement and, ultimately, 

zero accidents. 

‘In the know’ on safety 

Windscale’s daily Safety and Environment Assistance 

Centre (SEAC) meetings have proved valuable in making 

sure everyone on site is ‘in the know’ on safety. 

Meetings started in January and are designed to provide 

management at all levels with hands on information about 

unusual occurrences (UNORs) 

and environmental issues as 

they are raised. 

At only half-an-hour in 

length, the SEAC meetings 

don’t try to solve problems in 

detail. Instead they give 

management and operations an 

idea of the group’s collective 

experiences relating to UNORs. 

At the same time, we are in 

the decommissioning business; 

safety, health, environment and 

security are simply an integral 

part of decommissioning and 

should never be a bolt-on 

afterthought. 

Q What do you see as the 

main challenges in the current 

climate of change? 

A We’ve obviously been deeply 

involved with the sites in 

preparing the necessary 

justifications for relicensing the 

site licence companies. And 

we’re doing our best to maintain 

open communication between 

the stakeholders. There are very 

big issues involved here and it’s 

certainly a challenging time to 

be taking over. 

There’s a lot to do and it 

can’t be rushed or 

compromised. Managing the 

change, dealing with the legal 

and regulatory issues 

thoroughly, implementing 

changes to organisations and 

systems in a proper manner 

and improving our performance 

in that environment is the 

challenge I think. 

Q Have we got the balance 

right between nuclear and 

industrial safety? 

They give immediate awareness of current issues, so initial 

lessons can be shared site-wide on the day. 

An average of about 15 people attend each meeting, 

some in person and some via confertel, from each of the 

operational areas on site, as well as participants from 

contractor organisations and safety representatives. 

Though attendance is not mandatory, the turnout is good. 

The SEAC demonstrates excellent teamwork and 

encourages collective leadership. For example, a new type 

of glove was presented at one meeting. The benefits of 

using this glove were recognised by the meeting and it was 

decided that they would be made generally available on 

the site. 

The meeting is a very successful component of 

Windscale’s Safety Improvement Programme. 

A We’ve made considerable 

improvements in industrial 

safety. I supported the move 

towards a focus on Total 

Recordable Incident Rates 

(TRIR) which records injuries to 

staff rather than lost time. The 

figures show a positive trend on 

this and we’re looking to 

continue and improve on that 

record. At the same time, I feel 

we need to give more focus and 

visibility to nuclear safety and 

environmental management. 

Again, it’s a question of balance. 

Q You’ve worked in 

operational management and 

now safety. Are you a poacher 

turned gamekeeper? 

A It’s true that I’ve been 

working in a safety role for the 

past 10 years and before that I 

spent seven years in an 

engineering and operational 

role, largely at Sellafield. But 

even when I was an operator, I 

always felt strongly about safety 

and environmental matters. 


“I enjoyed my time as an operator and 

it’s been very valuable in my current 

role. It gives perspective and context 

to what I see when I am going around 

the sites, looking at plant and 

equipment and talking to operators.” 

I enjoyed my time as an 

operator and it’s been very 

valuable in my current role. It 

gives perspective and context 

to what I see when I am going 

around the sites, looking at 

plant and equipment and 

talking to operators. 

So, I was not so much a 

poacher as a licensed fisherman! 

Q Can you tell us a bit more 

about yourself and your 

family? What are your 

interests? What do you hope 

to get out of your new job? 

A I’ve spend 18 years in the 

industry in BNFL Sellafield, 

AWE Aldermaston and UKAEA. 

I am a Chartered Mechanical 

Engineer. My family and I live in 

Caithness and we like it there – 

though at present I don’t see 

enough of it as I do travel quite 

a bit for work on other UKAEA 

sites or business. 

On a personal note – I’m 

married to the lovely Jacky, we 

have three children aged 16, 13 

and three, a Jack Russell terrier 

and keep a few chickens. When 

I’m not working, I spend lots of 

time trying to keep a large 

garden tidy, growing vegetables, 

and using and maintaining a 

vintage tractor. Also I find a 

second career blooming as taxi 

driver and cash machine to my 

older children! 

As for my new job, like most 

people, I want to go home 

each night thinking I’ve made a 

positive difference. 

Head of Site Peter Mann addresses a SEAC meeting


Culham ■ SONE ■ School for postgrads ■ Jamboree ■ ITER 

SONE visitors 

Nuclear 

supporters 

visit 

Sir Bernard Ingham and 20 members of Supporters of Nuclear Energy (SONE) visited 

Culham in June for a briefing by Professor Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith, discussions, 

and a tour of the JET experimental facilities including the Torus Hall. 

The objective of SONE is to promote informed debate about the place of nuclear 

energy in global energy supply and how it can help power the world’s economic 

development in a sustainable way. 

To find out more, visit www.sone.org.uk. 

UK firms get ready 

for next step in fusion 

Around 150 delegates representing over 

90 UK companies met at the Culham 

Science Centre to prepare for ITER 

business opportunities on 28 June. The 

date was significant, as it was also the 

day the ITER European Domestic 

Agency was officially launched in 

Barcelona. 

The current focus is on civil engineering 

and long-lead time items, such as 

vessels and magnets. In addition, many 

specialist systems are at the design stage 

and UKAEA is looking for companies to 

get involved with projects in which it is 

participating – developing plasma 

diagnostic port plugs, and neutral beam 

and RF heating systems – all excellent 

opportunities for UK companies 

The event was opened by UKAEA 

Chief Executive, Norman Harrison. Talks 

on these topics were given by UKAEA, 

Delegates learn more about ITER’s imminent engineering opportunities 

ITER and EFDA staff. The day ended 

with discussion sessions to give industry 

the chance to find out more about 

contract opportunities from ITER and the 

projects that UKAEA Culham expects to 

undertake with industry involvement. 

On the same day, the annual 

Technology & Innovation Exhibition, 

which promotes engineering equipment 

and associated services to the UK nuclear 

industry, returned to UKAEA Culham. 

The exhibition had a record number of 

41 exhibitors and attracted several 

hundred people, including staff from 

Culham, tenant companies and delegates 

from the ITER event. 

Deniese Willis of the Fusion & 

Industry team said, “Organising the ITER 

event to coincide with the Technology & 

Innovation Exhibition proved to be a 

great success.” 

Impressive Summer School 

More than 60 postgraduate students 

attended the 44th Plasma Physics 

Summer School at Culham in July 

which was organised this year by two 

new directors Geoff Cottrell and Yasmin 

Andrew. 

The aim of the annual event is to 

provide an introduction to the fundamental 

principles of plasma physics, 

together with a broad understanding of 

its field of application. 

The varied lecture programme 

reflects the wide range of fields to 

which knowledge of plasma physics can 

be applied, as well as the interests of the 

students themselves. This year’s lecture 

topics included fusion, solar, space, 

astrophysical and laser plasmas. 

Speakers came from Culham, 

The European fusion 

programme – under the 

organisation of EFDA – 

presented various fusion 

outreach activities at the 

recent International Scout 

Jamboree in Essex, with 

close support from staff at 

Culham. 

The Fusion Roadshow 

was presented by Erik Min 

and Mark Westra from FOM 

in the Netherlands, and there 

were exhibits from the 

European Fusion Expo – coordinated 

by the Consorzio 

RFX laboratory in Padua, 

Italy. The Expo is a large 

Cadarache France, Gothenburg Sweden, 

RAL, IPP Garching, and British universities. 

Many of the students stayed in 

Oxford University halls of residence 

and had the opportunity to network and 

socialise on an evening boat trip on the 

Thames and a banquet at St Edmund 

Hall. 

Commenting on the success of the 

event, Yasmin Andrew said, “We were 

very impressed with the quality of 

students at this year’s Summer School 

and we hope that future events will 

continue to provide an opportunity for 

young physicists to develop their 

careers. The high attendance in recent 

years demonstrates the relevance of the 

course. We plan to build on its success.” 

Fusion makes an 

impact at jamboree 

interactive exhibition that visits European science museums and universities to spread 

the word on fusion. The full Expo will be attending this year’s BA Festival of Science in 

York in September. 

Several thousand of the 32,000 scouts and 8,000 scout leaders from around the 

world who attended the jamboree visited the Roadshow and Expo over the eight days 

of the jamboree. For budding scientists, there was a chance to learn about the science 

and engineering that underpins fusion research; for the less scientifically motivated, 

there was a chance to take part in lively discussions on future energy sources. 

Education and Outreach Manager Chris Warrick, who attended the jamboree to 

support the activities, said, “The chance to talk to so many young people in one place – 

challenging their preconceptions about energy sources and informing them of new 

options like fusion – is rare indeed. Making an impact at the jamboree was important 

and worthwhile.”

6 

Harwell ■ Innovative drying technique ■ RAF club ■ RM2 ■ School donation 

Good news 

on RM2 

Inactive commissioning began on Harwell’s second retrieval 

machine (RM2) on 13 August. 

“RM2 is an extremely important project for UKAEA,” said 

Deputy Senior Project Manager Gordon Fisher. “It will enable the 

accelerated removal of waste from the B462.9 tube store, which is 

on the critical path for decommissioning of the Harwell site as a 

whole. We’re very pleased to be undertaking inactive commissioning 

where we can witness the machine in full operation.” 

RM2 is a highly novel, technically complex project. The machine 

is designed to be broken down into more than 30 component parts 

and reassembled more than 50 times at different locations over its 

operational life. At each location operators will have the flexibility 

to retrieve waste from up to 20 storage tubes. Shielding modules 

ensure adequate shielding to operators and an inner stainless steel 

fabrication ensures containment is maintained as waste is recovered 

from the storage tubes. 

The project team under Senior Project Manager, Richard 

Lightowlers, has had its hands full driving the project towards 

demanding safety, programme and commercial targets. 

Safety and quality standards are key to the project. Inactive 

commissioning will demonstrate that RM2 is safe to use, and that it 

meets all requirements in terms of technical performance and 

process output. In addition, independent experts have visited the 

plant to observe the operators working on the manipulators. 

Harwell’s Derek Tyrrell, who is managing the implementation of 

the commissioning, explained, “To reduce the programme 

timescales we will be undertaking the commissioning during shift 

hours. Assystem UK Ltd (supplier of the equipment) has agreed to 

support each shift with an engineer and by doing this we can reduce 

the overall commissioning duration. 

“There are over 600 tasks involved in the movement of the 

machine and 150 for can recovery. We have confirmed many of the 

timing estimates but inactive commissioning will provide the 

opportunity to test the machine as a continuous process.” 

Over the past three years, the project has faced numerous 

challenges – all of them dealt with, thanks to first rate teamwork, as 

Gordon Fisher recalls. “We wouldn’t have been able to reach this 

point without support from the team at B462, who have been fundamental 

to the success of the project from day one. This has been an 

excellent example of staff across the site adopting a ‘one company, 

one team’ approach to their work.” 

Commenting on the project’s success in reaching the inactive 

commissioning stage, NDA Regional Development Engineer 

Michael Calloway said, "NDA is committed to progressive hazard 

reduction and ensuring radioactive waste is put into a passively safe 

form. The success of the RM2 project is key to securing this objective 

at B462 Harwell. 

“We continue to monitor the efforts being made by the UKAEA 

project team to deliver this technically challenging project to cost 

and schedule. We look forward to the successful completion of 

inactive commissioning and the safe and efficient retrieval of ILW 

from B462.9." 

An ingenious technique to 

remove water from storage 

waste tubes is being trialled on 

the Harwell site. The innovative 

solution was created by 

combining a number of existing 

and proven technologies 

into a single unit. 

An exploratory investigation 

of empty waste tubes in 

Harwell’s B462.9 tube store 

earlier this year revealed 

unexpected quantities of water. 

It’s believed to be rainwater let 

into the store before the buildings 

were refurbished in the 

80s. Though the quantity of 

water is small, the difficulty 

lies in removing it. 

“Following this find, we can 

no longer rule out contaminated 

water in the storage 

tubes,” said Vault Store 

Manager Stuart Watson. “So 

we needed to identify an 

inexpensive way of removing 

the water very quickly, a 

method that could be designed, 

manufactured and commissioned 

with the new retrieval 

machine, RM2.” 

Support Engineer Geoff 

Marshall was charged with 

finding the right solution 

and began a thorough study 

of how similar problems had 

been tackled elsewhere. 

“The options essentially 

boiled down to two separate 

but complementary 

solutions,” Geoff explained, 

“a suction removal unit and 

super absorbent polymer 

granules.” 

“To reduce lead times, we 

based the system on existing 

equipment used successfully in 

the Liquid Effluent Treatment 

Plant (LETP), modifying it to 

Guinea Pigs visit 

Members, families and friends of the RAF Guinea Pig Club were 

invited to Harwell in the summer, to see how the former RAF 

base has changed over the years. 

The Guinea Pig Club was formed by patients of Archibald 

McIndo, who worked at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East 

Grinstead during World War II. All were aircrew who underwent 

plastic surgery after being severely burned in the Battle of Britain 

or as crews in RAF Bomber Command. 

Today the club has some 100 members who communicate 

through a twice-yearly newsletter and regularly attend outings, 

including the D-Day memorial services. The trip to Harwell was 

one such outing. Speaking on the day, Guinea Pig Club Secretary 

Jack Perry said, “This truly was a most enjoyable and instructive 

visit.” 


Water recovery 

problem solved 

enable remote application in 

the retrieval machine,” Geoff 

added. 

Safety case project manager 

Jillian Sweeney explained how 

the technique works. “A 

vacuum is created within the 

interceptor unit which recovers 

the water through a plate 

nozzle on the end of a long 

hose. The water particles are 

swept along in the airflow, 

deposited into the interceptor 

and absorbed in the polymer, 

so they cannot be spilled or 

splashed.” 

The system has undergone 

extensive trials with engineers 

and operators, and the results 

look extremely positive. Geoff 

Marshall is working with the 

stakeholders to complete the 

final stages and it is planned to 

inactively commission the 

system in the RM2 in the 

autumn. 

Some of the Guinea Pig members by the Harwe


School science 

on camera 

Harwell, on behalf of the NDA, has made a donation to St 

Birinus School in Didcot. The sponsorship money was used to 

buy digital equipment for use in the school’s science classes. 

In a letter of thanks, Head of Science Roger Mattingley said, 

“We purchased a digital stills camera and a camcorder with a 

sports (high speed) setting. The cameras have been used to 

take footage from which accurate readings can be taken, as 

well as photos of experimental set ups for their reports. Thank 

you again for the funding of this digital equipment.” 

St Birinus Year 12 Physics class using the cameras in project work 

ll D Day memorial stone 

Winfrith ■ Sea-pipe work ■ Cricket sponsorship 

Divers have voice and video communications 

Underwater 

repairs 

underway 

Annual maintenance work on the sea-pipe that 

runs from the Winfrith site and into the English 

Channel is underway. 

The sea-pipe is used for discharges from the 

site of water produced from decommissioning 

operations; discharges are strictly controlled and 

monitored by the Environment Agency. 

“This year quite an extensive programme of 

work is being undertaken,” explains Rick 

McEvoy, Project Manager for the Sea Swim 

Contract. “Divers are inspecting and repairing the 

off-shore diffusers, replacing the buoy at the end 

of the pipe, and checking the shackles, bridle 

and attachments to the buoy. 

“Work is also being done on bridging spans 

under the pipeline, as well as repairs to the 

concrete structures on the shore. This involves 

pressure washing and special concrete repairs, 

both under and above sea-level.” 

The works will be completed over a five-week 

summer period, when Winfrith divers and 

engineers are given full access to the beach by 

the Ministry of Defence. 

Youth cricket sponsorship 

UKAEA Winfrith, on behalf of 

the Nuclear Decommissioning 

Authority, sponsored the youth 

section of Dorchester Cricket 

Club, enabling the club to buy 

a bowling machine. 

Weekly practices 

“The machine will enhance the 

weekly practices in the new net 

bay and help the young players 

in their development as 

batsmen,” said Chairman of the 

Club, Tony Foot. “It will mean 

the coach is able to adjust the 

speed, spin and trajectory of 

the ball, which will keep the 

batsmen on their toes.” 

Emma Burwood, Winfrith 

Communications Manager, 

said, “We are delighted to be 

able to help the Dorchester 

Youth Cricket Club. We try and 

help the local community out 

whenever possible. This 

seemed an excellent project to 

be associated with.” 

Tony Foot added, 

Jet washing the concrete covering 

Sea-pipe (left) and divers accommodation (right) 

“Dorchester Cricket Club 

wishes to express its grateful 

thanks to the UKAEA at 

Winfrith for its generous 

support.”

8 

Dounreay ■ Thorium is back ■ MSP visit ■ NuSAC ■ Sponsorships 

Workers venting drums before placing them in overpacks 

Community spirit 

Dounreay Communities Fund assisted with the cost of the 

recent visit of a group of 29 traditional folk dancers from Ursum 

in Holland. During their visit to Caithness, organised by the 

Taste of Tartan Committee, they performed at shows in Wick, 

Thurso and the Halkirk Games. 

Caithness United received a donation of £500 from Dounreay 

Communities Fund towards a trip to Aberdeen International 

Football Festival. UKAEA’s Gemma Macdonald presented a 

cheque to Caithness United coach Donald Allan with the boys 

who went on the trip and coach Jocky Mackay. 

Dounreay Communities Fund donated £200 towards the 

running costs of Thurso Academicals Football Club. Club 

captain Murray Coghill was given a cheque by Rev Ronnie 

Johnston, Dounreay Stakeholder Group, with the rest of the 

team looking on. 

Thorium returns from Peru 

Thorium which left Dounreay ten years ago has 

now been returned. 

In 1998, as part of its commercial fuels 

business, Dounreay exported 2.9 tonnes of 

thorium nitrate to a customer in Peru, to be made 

into gas mantles. The customer subsequently 

discovered that his equipment was unsuitable for 

processing the thorium and it was never used. 

As Peru has no specialist facilities for disposing 

of radioactive waste, return of the material to 

Dounreay was the responsible approach. A handpicked 

decommissioning team from Dounreay, 

led by UKAEA decommissioning manager Steve 

Beckitt, travelled to Peru to repack the thorium 

into special containers ready for its return. 

The thorium was transported to Dounreay by 

ship and arrived back on site in August. It will be 

stored in purpose-built facilities in the fuel cycle 

area with the existing thorium held by the site. 

North MSP 

calls for action 


Highlands and Islands 

regional Labour MSP David 

Stewart visited Dounreay in 

August. Accompanied by 

Councillor Deirdre Mackay, 

he met senior 

management, trade union 

officials and was shown 

around the site. 

In a statement issued to 

the media following his 

visit, Mr Stewart said, “I 

had a useful and 

informative visit to 

Dounreay and met with 

trade union representatives 

and Dounreay Director 

Simon Middlemas. The 

main issue raised was job 

diversification in the post- 

Dounreay era. Those I met 

expressed a sense of 

urgency for the future - 

particularly as in 2012 

several hundred jobs are 

scheduled to go at the 

plant.” 

Advisory body applauds ‘step change’ 

Representatives of the Nuclear 

Safety Advisory Committee (NuSAC) 

who visited Dounreay in early August 

were impressed with the progress 

being made on site. 

NuSAC advises the Health & 

Safety Commission on matters 

relating to nuclear safety policy and 

how it is implemented at nuclear 

installations. 

The representatives visited the 

Fuel Cycle Area’s fuel treatment 

plants, the new Breeder Removal 

facility and the Prototype Fast 

Reactor, and met with the site’s 

safety reps. The visitors commented 

on the physical changes to the site 

since their last visit three years ago, 

singling out in particular the 

improvements made to safety. 

NuSAC’s Andrew Clarke described 

the difference as a “step change” 

and noted the “clear commitment in 

the attitude of the staff on site.” 

Steve Beckitt with ISO containers at customs 

TU reps George Campbell, Sandra Owsnett, Davie Alexander and Linda Hassard 

with David Stewart MSP and Councillor Deirdre MacKay 

UKAEA’s Alistair MacDonald and Rhona Gill; NuSAC representatives 

Paul Haigh, Andrew Clarke and Anthony Webb and UKAEA’s 

Raymond Hill


Dounreay ■ 50th anniversary ■ Caithness Horizons ■ Dunnet Forest project 

Fifty year story 

comes to a close 

Last month marked the 50th anniversary 

of Scotland becoming a nuclear 

nation. 

It was on 13 August 1957 that the 

first nuclear chain reaction took place 

at Dounreay in Cell 1 of the 

Experimental Criticality Facility. The 

building has now been decommissioned 

and demolished, one of the 99 

facilities removed since the site’s 

decommissioning began. 

The plutonium criticality building 

adjacent to the cleared area is also 

now on the point of being demol- 

D8550 pressure vessel under 

construction in 1957 

Apprentices help out 

Dounreay’s first-year apprentices 

have been helping out on 

a variety of projects in Dunnet 

Forest. 

Every year the apprentices 

lend a hand with various tasks. 

This year’s trainees turned 

their hands to drystone dyking 

and laying Caithness 

flagstones around an outdoor 

xylophone. They also dug 

holes and made plinths for 

wood sculptures throughout 

the forest. 

The apprentices had the 

chance to try the new orienteering 

course before they left. 

Although they had painted the 

letters and numbers on the 

posts and had helped to lay out 

the course during the week, 

they found it a challenge. 

Apprentice Stephen ‘Bob’ 

Bremner commented, “It was 

hard work, but good fun, and 

even though we put the orienteering 

course in, it was still 

really hard.” 

ished. This facility owed its 

existence to the passing of the 

McMahon Act in the US in 1946, 

which effectively destroyed collaboration 

between the UK and the US in 

nuclear energy. 

Groundbreaking 

As US experimental data on uranium 

and plutonium criticality was 

unavailable to the UK, the new 

laboratory was built at Dounreay to 

carry out a groundbreaking 

programme of criticality experiments 

Cutting work in progress 

on plutonium- bearing materials, for 

the benefit of the UK nuclear industry 

as a whole. 

Decommissioning began in 2000 

and the work has been carried out 

without a major safety incident in the 

last six years. UKAEA’s Fuel Cycle 

Area decommissioning manager, 

Steve Beckitt, expects to be able to 

demolish the shell of the building 

during the winter, bringing to a close 

the story of Dounreay’s important 

contribution to nuclear criticality 

research. 

Apprentices round a love seat created by local wood-sculptor Andrew Chadwick 

Work to start 

on exciting town 

hall project 

Major refurbishment 

work on Thurso 

Town Hall to create 

the Caithness 

Horizons combined 

museum, visitor and 

community centre is 

set to begin. 

After securing 

additional funding 

from its partners 

and HIE Caithness 

& Sutherland, 

Highland Council 

Sandy Park of the 

Highland Council 

awarded the contract for the main 

construction work to local firm O’Brien 

Construction Ltd. Work is expected to start 

in September. Caithness Horizons is 

scheduled to open in the autumn of 2008, 

during the off-peak tourist season to allow 

the company initially to concentrate on 

community uses and the temporary 

exhibition areas. 

Caithness Horizons Chairman, Paul Cariss, 

welcomed the significant progress being 

made. “After a long period of preparation I’m 

pleased that the major building work will now 

commence and that a local business has 

acquired the work,” he said. 

”The project promises to deliver an 

outstanding facility which will benefit both 

the local community and visitors to the area. 

Caithness has a fascinating history and story 

to tell and Caithness Horizons will help to 

promote the many attractions that as yet are 

relatively undiscovered.” 

Meanwhile, the cataloguing of museum 

artefacts continues and Edinburgh-based 

Circa Media has been appointed to develop 

the audio visual presentation that visitors will 

see by way of introduction on their arrival. 

The Highland Council Convener Sandy 

Park and Chief Executive Alistair Dodds 

recently visited the town hall building and 

had useful discussions with Paul Cariss. 

“As owners of this historic building, we are 

delighted to have been able to play our part 

in bringing this exciting project to fruition,” 

Councillor Park said. “It is an important early 

flagship project in the regeneration of 

Caithness and North Sutherland in the wake 

of the decommissioning of Dounreay.” 

The new museum store opened in Princes 

Street, Thurso in August and the Caithness 

Horizons Collections Trust is continuing to 

attract new members. They will be 

responsible for preserving the collection for 

visitors and the community to enjoy for years 

to come. 

For further details of the project see the 

website at: www.caithnesshorizons.co.uk

10 


Windscale ■ Dounreay at Windscale ■ Sea plane sponsorship ■ Mayor’s fund donation ■ DuPont visit 

Caithness comes 

to Cumbria Whitehaven 

Maritime 

Festival 

On a recent visit to West Cumbria, Director of Dounreay Simon 

Middlemas, Head of Assurance Services at Dounreay Tony 

Wratten, Deputy Director for the NDA Region 4 Randall Bargelt 

and Brad Smith of CH2M HILL took the opportunity to visit the 

Windscale site. The aim of their visit was to learn more about the 

major decommissioning projects being carried out by the 

Windscale team and share experiences. 

As well as meeting with members of Windscale senior management, 

the group visited Pile 1, the Windscale Advanced Gas-cooled 

Reactor (WAGR) and the WAGR Intermediate Level Waste Store. 

The group were impressed by the Windscale facilities and the 

decommissioning work taking place. They said they found it a 

useful visit from a ‘learning from experience’ perspective. 

Milestones 

Our congratulations to all 

those people celebrating 

career milestones this month. 

45 years and over 

Rodney Cusack • Culham 14/09/59 

John Davis • Culham 01/09/62 

Norman Kidd • Culham 01/09/62 

Robert Horn • Culham 10/09/62 


Geoff Braithwaite • Culham 01/09/64 

Arthur Disbury • Dounreay 01/09/65 

Robert Doull • Dounreay 01/09/65 

Andrew Stevens • Culham 13/09/65 

Malcolm Cherrill • Harwell 13/09/65 

Nigel Green • Culham 12/09/66 

Jack Connor • Culham 01/09/67 

Terry Martin • Culham 01/09/67 

Alec Inns • Harwell 01/09/67 

Cathy Norris • Culham 01/09/67 

Alan Chalker • Winfrith 11/09/67 


John Hicks • Culham 01/09/68 

John Hay • Culham 01/09/68 

Alexander Cowan • Dounreay 01/09/69 

George Macdonald • Dounreay 01/09/69 

Bob Roberts • Harwell 01/09/69 

Brian Soper • Harwell 08/09/69 

Jerry Goff • Culham 08/09/69 

Steve Mott • Winfrith 07/09/70 

George Mackenzie • Dounreay 21/09/70 

Elspeth Anderson • Dounreay 28/09/70 

Please note that Milestones are 

calculated on years of continuous 

service. 


William Mackay • Dounreay 03/09/73 

Gareth Jessop • Winfrith 03/09/73 

Doreen Hawkins • Winfrith 03/09/73 

James Miller • Dounreay 02/09/74 

Ian Caine • Harwell 02/09/74 

Trevor Edlington • Culham 23/09/74 

Stephen White • Harwell 01/09/75 

David Martin • Culham 08/09/75 

Gary Preston • Harwell 08/09/75 

Andrew Darke • Culham 15/09/75 

Peter Flavel • Harwell 22/09/75 

John Falconer • Dounreay 15/12/75 

Michael Brown • Dounreay 06/09/76 

Mary Hills • Harwell 06/09/76 

David Kirby • Winfrith 27/09/76 

Robert Stephen • Culham 05/09/77 

Alan Thomas • Harwell 05/09/77 

Janette Roberts • Culham 19/09/77 

25 years 

Timothy Jones • Culham 01/09/82 

Alan Neal • Winfrith 01/09/82 

David Langridge • Culham 06/09/82 

Glenn Eaton • Culham 06/09/82 

Andy Miller • Dounreay 20/09/82 

Innes Mitchell • Dounreay 20/09/82 

Philip Page • Dounreay 27/09/82 

20 years 

Annie Partridge • Harwell 01/09/87 

Trevor Blackman • Culham 07/09/87 

Sarah Stead • Harwell 07/09/87 

Ian Denton • Harwell 28/09/87 

15 years 

David Knight • Winfrith 07/09/92 

10 years 

Angela Vincent • Harwell 01/09/97 

Linda Coghill • Dounreay 01/09/97 

Walter Hossack • Dounreay 01/09/97 

David Dunnet • Dounreay 08/09/97 

Richard Trueman • Dounreay 15/09/97 

Evelyn Clark • Dounreay 29/09/97 

Lisa Moyes • Culham 29/09/97 

(Above) Catalina takes to the skies over Whitehaven 

(Inset l to r) Catalina pilot Rod Brooking 

with UKAEA prizedraw winners Paul Slater, 

Janis Paterson, Richard Beck, John Allan 

and Joe Clark, a member of the ground 

crew, the co-pilot Keith Sissons and 

another ground crew member 

Team visit 

PPE firm 

A UKAEA group from 

Windscale and Dounreay visited 

DuPont Personal Protections 

Tyvek manufacturing plant in 

Luxembourg earlier this year. 

DuPont Tyvek suits are used 

throughout UKAEA’s sites to 

provide protection to workers 

from radiological and chemical 

hazards present during operational 

and decommissioning 

activities. 

The UKAEA group included 

safety representatives, building 

supervisors, Senior Safety Adviser 

Gary McMinn at Windscale and 

John Cuthbert of Dounreay. Ian 

Samson of DuPont Personal 

Protection was their host. 

The purpose of the visit was 

to look at quality control procedures 

during the manufacturing 

process and to discuss some of 

the more practical issues associated 

with the decommissioning 

work undertaken by UKAEA. 

The visit included a tour of the 

production plant and a detailed 

look into quality control 

processes. Gary McMinn gave a 

presentation on the practical 

challenges faced during decommissioning 

work. 

Ian Blackwell, a building 

supervisor at Windscale, said, 

“The main plus point for myself 

was getting an insight into what 

goes into the production of the 

Tyvek material, something we 

use on a daily basis in the facility. 

I was pleased to see the 

company was willing to adapt its 

products for our specific requirements 

as a site.” 

Sharon Reynolds, a trade 

union safety representative, 

commented, “The plant was 

clean and tidy with a marked 

storage location for everything.” 

Reviewing the success of the 

visit Gary McMinn commented, 

“The visit was very beneficial 

for both organisations. UKAEA 

gained a good understanding of 

the quality control procedures 

applied to the production of 

Tyvek fabric. It also gave us the 

opportunity to discuss our 

experiences in the field of 

decommissioning and how 

current PPE could be further 

developed to provide improved 

protection to operatives.” 

As a direct result of the visit, a 

number of improvements were 

suggested and UKAEA expects 

to receive some prototypes of a 

revised suit in early autumn. 

“I was very happy that staff 

who are in the frontline were 

able to participate in the visit. It 

gave a very credible shop floor 

perspective, directly supporting 

our technical point of view,” 

Gary added. 

The 2007 Whitehaven Maritime Festival took 

place in June this year. 

UKAEA and the Windscale team have well 

established links with the festival and have 

sponsored elements of it for a number of years. 

At this year’s festival, UKAEA and UKAEA 

Windscale sponsored the Catalina sea plane. 

The Windscale team were lucky to be 

offered five flights on the Catalina. A prize 

draw was held at Windscale and the winners 

were treated to a flight around Carlisle, 

before the sea plane took part in an air 

display around Whitehaven Harbour. 

More than 300,000 visitors flocked to 

Whitehaven over the maritime weekend, 

making it yet another successful festival for 

the organising committee and an enjoyable 

event for West Cumbrians. 

Tyvek suits 

in use during 

decommissioning 

operations at 

Windscale 

A helping 

hand 

Windscale Communications 

Manager, Fee Wilson, was 

delighted to meet up with 

the outgoing Mayor for 

Copeland, Willis Metherill, 

at the recent local council 

elections. 

Fee presented Willis with 

a cheque for £1,000 from 

the Windscale Head of Site 

Community Fund, on behalf 

of the NDA. The donation 

will be included in the 

Mayor of Copeland’s 

Charity Fund. 

Each year local mayors 

raise money for community 

charities. Willis decided to 

support the work of the 

Great North Air Ambulance 

and the First Responders, 

and said that the donation 

was very much appreciated. 

Windscale’s Fee Wilson with the 

Mayor of Copeland, Willis 

Metherill

September 2007 UKAEATODAY 

50th year 

of UBA 

Benevolent 

Fund 

2007 sees the 50th 

anniversary of the UBA 

Benevolent Fund (formerly 

the UKAEA Benevolent 

Fund). The Fund was 

established to provide 

assistance and advice to 

current and past nonindustrial 

employees of 

British Nuclear Fuels, the 

United Kingdom Atomic 

Energy Authority, AEA 

Technology and Amersham 

plc, in times of financial 

hardship. Since these 

companies adopted single 

status, every employee has 

become eligible, as have 

their dependants. The fund 

is a registered charity. 

Assistance, which is 

means-tested, can take the 

form of grants and/or 

interest-free loans, 

depending upon individual 

circumstances. All 

applications are treated in 

the strictest confidence. 

If you wish to apply, or 

are aware of someone else 

who could benefit, or if you 

want to know more about 

the Fund, please contact 

the Secretary, Marie Sims 

at the UBA Benevolent 

Fund office, c/o British 

Nuclear Fuels plc, H420, 

Risley, Warrington, 

Cheshire, WA3 6AS, or 

telephone 01925 833288. 

Alternatively you can 

complete the coupon 

below. 

Website of the Month 

A bit of scientific 

silliness 

Are science and humour comfortable bedfellows? For years, 

the Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) website has been 

trying to prove they are, by making gentle fun of science and 

scientists. Their slogan is, ‘Science that makes people laugh 

and then think.’ 

Whether or not you think they succeed rather depends on 

your own sense of humour. The website (and associated 

magazine) can certainly boast an eminent editorial board, 

including scientists and doctors from around the world – not to 

mention eight Nobel prizewinners. 

These are the same people 

who each year bring you the 

Ig Nobel prizes, the antithesis 

of Nobel prizes. Ig Nobel 

prizes honour scientists who 

undertake bizarre work. They 

are intended to ‘celebrate the 

unusual, honour the 

imaginative, and spur 

people's interest in science, 

medicine, and technology.’ 

Who could forget some recent award-winning Ig Nobel 

research, which delved into the mysteries of why woodpeckers 

don’t get headaches, the optimal way to dunk a biscuit, and 

the dynamics of hula-hooping? 

Chickens crossing roads, cleaning up volcanoes in Hawaii and a 

society called The Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists have 

come in for not-so-serious online scrutiny on the site recently. 

As well as its own scientific silliness, the website also 

includes links to improbable research in the news, and to other 

off-the-wall science-related websites. 

http://improbable.com 

Please remember that the Website of the Month feature 

suggests websites you might like to access from your home 

computer. If you are in doubt about which sites you are 

pemitted to access in the workplace, please refer to the 

UKAEA Internet policy. 

The monthly newspaper for and about the United Kingdom Atomic 

Energy Authority. Articles can be freely reproduced provided UKAEA 

TODAY is acknowledged as the source 

Editor : Sue Clark e-mail: sue.clark@blue2design.com 

Editorial Office: Communications, UKAEA, Marshall Building (521) 

Harwell, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0RA 

Tel : 01235 435008 Fax : 01235 436865 

Copywriting : Blue2 (01235 862587) 

Correspondents 

Culham Susan Hayward : 01235 466363 

Dounreay Sue Thompson : 01847 806085 

Harwell Angela Vincent : 01235 435234 

Warrington John Anderson : 01925 287654 

Windscale Fee Wilson : 01946 772954 

Claire Tandy : 01946 772213 

Winfrith Emma Burwood : 01305 203107 

Business Strategy Bim Adesanya : 01235 435066 

Finance & Commercial Lynn Leniewski : 01235 436892 

MPED Annabel Halfhead : 01235 435281 

S&AD Kirsten Johnson : 01847 806387 

Copy Deadlines 

Issue 93 October 2007 3rd September 2007 

Issue 94 November 2007 1st October 2007 

Issue 95 December 2007 5th November 2007 

£25 Prize Crossword 

1 

8 

10 11 

12 13 

18 

22 

2 3 4 5 6 7 

19 

24 25 

9 

17 

14 

15 16 

20 21 

Win £25 with our Big Prize Crossword 

Send your completed entry to: Communications, UKAEA 

Crossword, B521/G30, Harwell, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0RA. 

Entries for the September 2007 crossword should arrive no 

later than 1st October. 

Cryptic Clues 

Across 

1 & 5 Tracking down document to aid in copy making (7,5) 

8 Issue electronic wisecrack (5) 

9 Called and stopped – everybody is inside (7) 

10 It positively attracts pet – head-first – with song (7) 

11 See 6 

12&18d Goon character fancies Manchester delicacies (6,5) 

14 Freewheels around the beaches (6) 

18 Unable to love this piece of poetry (5) 

20 Musical drama Laurence could perform (7) 

22 Tangled or not, we hear little Edward (7) 

23 The point in leaving be (5) 

24 Puzzled Danes carried chair (5) 

25 

Down 

Very loud in change of boxes (7) 

1 Claret mixed with end of bottle is syrup-like (7) 

2 Grown up with bad ultramarine fashions (5) 

3 Revise rogue ramble (7) 

4 Tagged ingenious device (6) 

5 Penny ’phoned, causing crash (5) 

6 & 11 Trees overhand Queen where she bowls in north London (7,5) 

7 Sculptor and Norse God under river (5) 

13 Against the thread of a treaty (7) 

15 Elf with upturned nose finding own identity (7) 

16 Tess is a bit unsettled by afternoon naps (7) 

17 Descriptions of Scandinavia found in Austen or Dickens? (6) 

18 See 12 

19 Frequently decimal (5) 

21 I jumped bail with an excuse (5) 

Quick Clues 

Across 

1 & 5 Transparent drawing aid (7,5) 

8 Rig out (5) 

9 Telephoned (7) 

10 Electrode (7) 

11 See 6 

12&18d Confections with currants (6,5) 

14 Cruises (6) 

18 Sort of a long poem or epic (5) 

20 To perform surgery (7) 

22 Secured (7) 

23 Live (5) 

24 Antique chair (5) 

25 Sarcophagi (7) 

June winner and solution 

The lucky winner is Peter Rusling, a retired member of the Winfrith staff. 

Our congratulations to him. 

Across; 1 Insofar, 5 Focus, 8 Opera, 9 Toenail, 10 Flash in the pan, 11 Modern 

12 In case, 15 There she blows, 18 Senegal, 19 On-air, 20 Event, 21 Tadpole 

Down; 1 In-off, 2 Steward, 3 Featherweight, 4 Rating, 5 Flesh and blood, 

6 Champ, 7 Silence, 11 Matisse, 13 Avocado, 14 Chalet, 16 Ernie, 17 Serve 

23 

11 

Down 

1 Molasses (7) 

2 Fully grown (5) 

3 Enhance (7) 

4 Tool (6) 

5 Vehicle knock (5) 

6 & 11 London suburb (7,5) 

7 French sculptor (5) 

13 Agreement (7) 

15 Individual identity (7) 

16 Snoozes after lunch (7) 

17 From northern Europe (6) 

18 See 12 

19 Time after time (5) 

21 Defence (5)

12 UKAEATODAY September 2007 

Out and About 

Arts support for local playscheme 

Susan Hayward of Culham Public Relations with 

children from the Ladygrove Playscheme 

Running the line 

Harwell’s Steve Phipps has been promoted to the 

Football League list of assistant referees. 

Steve qualified for a place on the national list 

of Football League assistant referees for the 

2007-08 football season, which covers matches in 

Football Leagues 1 and 2, and national championship 

matches. 

“I’ve been a qualified referee for 17 years and for 

the last seven years, a football referee at the 

Contributory League level and an assistant referee 

in the Nationwide Conference League,” said Steve. 

“In April this year I was notified that I could be 

promoted to the national list of assistant referees, 

depending on completion of the FIFA fitness test.” 

Steve took the FIFA test, which involved a 40m 

sprint and running 10 laps of a 400m track, in 

July and was delighted to pass. Now he can take 

his place on the national list, running the line 

throughout the coming football season. 

Helen and her 

knees triumph 

Harwell’s Helen Gilmour is well on the way to 

reaching her target figure of £1,500, donated by 

family and friends who sponsored her and her 

daughter Clare to take part in the BUPA 10km 

Great Capital Run in Hyde Park on 15 July. 

“Despite my dodgy knees, I got round in 

1:22:33, eight minutes faster than I forecast and 

Clare finished just in front of me in 1:13:38,” said 

Helen. “The buzz afterwards was just amazing. I 

think after all these years I might finally have got 

the running bug.” 

Helen and Clare are donating the money raised 

to Newbury Crossroads, a charity that provides 

respite care for local families. Both Helen and her 

daughter work part-time for the charity. 

“Thank you so much to everyone who 

sponsored us. If you’d like to help me achieve, or 

better still smash, my target, you can still donate 

online at www.justgiving.com/helensknees.” 

The UKAEA Culham Sponsorship Fund donated 

£100 towards art materials for children attending 

the Ladygrove Playscheme. 

The scheme has been running in the school 

holidays for five years, providing a range of 

stimulating indoor and outdoor activities for five 

to 11 years. In thanking UKAEA for its donation, 

Playscheme Chairman Nicky Tipton said, “It is 

good to know that UKAEA Sponsorship Fund is 

keen to support such projects which benefit the 

community. A donation towards art materials is 

particularly great as the children make a ‘scrapbook’ 

during the summer which they are able to 

keep at the end of the playscheme.” 

Presentation 

day success 

UKAEA at Harwell (on behalf of the NDA) 

sponsored Cold Ash Football Club’s presentation 

day, held at Newbury Racecourse in July. The 

club caters for boys and girls from the age of 

seven, with teams playing both competitive and 

non-competitive football. 

“The presentation day was a great success,” said 

UKAEA’s Paul Turner, whose son plays in the 

U12 squad. “Each club member received a copy 

of the yearbook, including statistics on the team’s 

performance, and individuals were rewarded with 

trophies. UKAEA’s support was very much 

appreciated.” 

CJB Photography of Hagley 

Harwell vs Rest 

of the World 

Each year, Harwell’s Six-a-Side Football League organises a 

representative 11-a-side match between the sides at Harwell 

and the Rest of the World, which includes all other sides. 

This year’s game was played in front of a crowd of 170. The 

final score, after a very close game was Harwell 2, Rest of the 

World 0. 

Harwell Football Manager Pete Burton said, “This was a 

fitting game to finish off a fantastic season, a credit to all the 

players involved.” 

The League was first started in 1946 and ran right through 

until 1970. It was re-formed in 1999 with ten teams and since 

then has grown considerably. This year the total membership 

increased to 21 teams. As well as the 11-a-side match, the 

League organises an annual six-a-side tournament. This year’s 

tournament was won by Pettawat Dogs. 

Harwell 

manager Pete 

Burton, (right) 

with ROTW 

manager Paul 

Smith 

Harwell team, 

2007 World cup 

winners (above). 

Rest of the World 

team (right) 

Your own copy 

This is your own personal copy of UKAEA TODAY. 

Current and retired employees should send amendments 

and changes of address to: Andrew Wise, UKAEA Today, 

Marshall Building (521), Harwell, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0RA, 

tel 01235 435008, email: andrew.wise@ukaea.org.uk

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