How Far Is it from Chicago to Boston? 

Well... That Depends How You Measure It

“What on earth is a Smoot?” was the question John and I found ourselves pondering in Boston, standing on Harvard bridge on our way to MIT.

This unit of measure became the perfect metaphor for the distance travelled on our epic journey across America promoting Cyclone Sage - our new AI assistant integrated into Cyclone (Orthrus Software) designed to support nuclear engineering and fusion workflows. It was a trip full of amazing experiences, with some serious science folded in too. 

One Smoot, as it turns out, is precisely the length of MIT student Oliver Smoot (5 ft 7 inches), who repeatedly lay down end-to-end across the Harvard Bridge in 1958, creating one of academia’s most eccentric units. The bridge is exactly 364.4 Smoots long, plus or minus one ear. 

ANS Conference – Cyclone Sage and Deep-Dish Pizza 

Distance Travelled: 17.5 miles / 18,480 Smoots (O’Hare Airport to downtown Chicago) 

We began our journey in Chicago at the American Nuclear Society (ANS) conference where we caught up with lots of familiar faces. Here, we introduced our AI assistant, Cyclone Sage, designed to streamline the creation of input decks for MCNP. Sage garnered significant interest and thoughtful discussion, and it was great to see enthusiasm for an AI solution carefully tailored to meet the needs of the nuclear sector. 

Aside from the conference, Chicago itself was a brilliant city. We marvelled at the city’s skyline, took in views along the iconic Chicago River, and tackled the legendary deep-dish pizza. Let’s just say we hit a delicious but formidable “cheese wall” at Labriola restaurant, a battle both John and I lost. 

Argonne National Lab – High Energy Research and Reactor History 

Distance Travelled: 24.5 miles / 25,872 Smoots (Chicago to Argonne) 

Upon leaving Chicago, we toured Argonne National Laboratory, an epicentre of nuclear history and cutting-edge research. Here, we glimpsed the remarkable Advanced Photon Source - an immense high-energy X-ray facility where researchers worldwide collaborate on groundbreaking science.  

A highlight of the tour was the chance to touch a graphite block from the historic Chicago Pile 1 - the world’s first nuclear reactor. Additionally, we learned a great deal about Argonne’s pioneering work in science, including sodium-cooled reactor technology and exascale computing. 

Road Trip Begins – The Open Road 

Distance Travelled: 210 miles / 221,760 Smoots (Argonne to Holiday City) 

Check out the decals...and always get the damage waiver!

For the next stage of our journey, our trusty GMC Sierra V8 pickup truck carried us eastward on the I90. Despite being absolutely massive, it was surprising easy to drive and powered us comfortably along, towering above almost everything in sight. Arriving late at a rather quirky hotel, we had a brief but memorable pitstop, with our sights set firmly on reaching the stunning spectacle of Niagara Falls the next day.

Cleveland to Niagara – Rock & Roll, Harleys, and brief trip to Canada 

Distance Travelled: 359 miles / 379,104 Smoots (Holiday City to Buffalo via Cleveland & Niagara) 

Our next stop brought us to Cleveland’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which pays tribute to iconic bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and even… Def Leppard. With eardrums still intact, we found a playlist with 100s of hall of fame hits which got us through the many miles of driving. As we continued our journey, we visited a very cool Harley-Davidson dealership, where we had to resist swapping the trusty pickup for two hogs.

Arriving at Niagara Falls was amazing, especially after hearing enthusiastic reviews from people we’d chatted with at ANS. They suggested we cross the Rainbow Bridge into Canada for the best views, and they weren’t wrong. Fortunately, the border officials let us back into the States after buying quite a lot of maple syrup. 

A bit too much moderator in this CARTA simulation

Finger Lakes to Springfield – Nature, Baseball and Some American Culture 

Distance Travelled: 240 miles / 253,440 Smoots (Buffalo, NY to Springfield, NY, via Montezuma, Skaneateles, and Cooperstown) 

Leaving the interstate we drove through the tranquil Finger Lakes region, stopping at Montezuma Wildlife Refuge where a huge eagle statue stands on the roadside. Birdwatching with binoculars from Nuclear Talent Scout exhibiting at ANS was great - thanks for freebie, they were put to good use!

Continuing our drive, we made a memorable stop in the lakeside town of Skaneateles, enjoying much needed coffee and pastries. The locals found it quite amusing when we said “cheers” after receiving our coffees as apparently this doesn’t quite translate in the USA (along with other phrases like: “we need to get a wriggle on” and: “that’ll take donkeys years”). The town was distinctly upmarket with lots of American flags, the same with all the towns we drove through. It was quite a sight.

Cooperstown guided us through the history of baseball, revealing how it united communities across the states. We unfortunately missed attending a ball game in Chicago due to heavy rain, but there’s always next time! Springfield offered us some excellent German cuisine from a local recommendation, reminding us how cultural influences are very broad across America.

The Last Leg – Battleship Cove and on to Boston  

Distance Travelled: 154 miles / 162,624 Smoots (Springfield, MA, to Boston via Battleship Cove in Fall River) 

Battleship Cove near Boston gave us a look into maritime history, exploring the USS Massachusetts and USS Swordfish, a humbling reminder of the bravery of people during WW2. Experiencing the confined spaces and harsh conditions onboard made us appreciate just how tough life must have been for the people who spent months at sea. We then departed to Boston. After 4 days of travelling, we were both tired but there was no time to waste! We were straight into the SOFE conference the very next day.

Symposium on Fusion Engineering (SOFE) 2025

In Boston, our focus turned to fusion energy at the Symposium on Fusion Engineering (SOFE), where we were warmly welcomed by familiar faces. All of the fusion industry leaders were present, UK Industrial Fusion Solutions (UKIFS), Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Tokamak Energy, and Proxima Fusion, just to name a few. A highlight was a bespoke tour given by Rémi Delaporte-Mathurin (MIT) who showed us around the cutting-edge LIBRA tritium breeding experiment. We expressed our thanks with a limited-edition Cerberus Nuclear mug and Yorkshire Tea, essential provisions for any fusion scientist.

Our poster session promoting Cyclone and Cyclone Sage for fusion neutronics analysis was very well attended. The level of engagement was fantastic; both John and I nearly lost our voices from the sheer number of people we spoke to.  

Visiting Commonwealth Fusion Systems’s SPARC was genuinely impressive. The rapid progress made has only heightened our excitement for fusion energy’s potential. Lookout from them in 2027 when its due to be turned on. 

Thank you CFS
Provided by CFS (Commonwealth Fusion Systems)

It's a long way from Chicago to Boston 

Of course, we couldn’t leave Boston without visiting where Smoot’s story began, it turns out I’m slightly taller than one Smoot! Most visitors who walk across the Harvard bridge rarely notice the marks that are repainted every year, making it a fascinating hidden piece of MIT knowledge.

If you would like to learn more check out Matt Parker’s brilliant Stand-up Maths video, "The bridge which is measured in smoots”.

So how far is it from Chicago to Boston? Well, it's about 1005 miles, or 1,061,280 smoots +- 1 ear, and probably quite a bit more if you include how many steps we did! With that, our journey across the USA came to a close.

After all this it’s easy to forget that this whole adventure was about Cyclone and Cyclone Sage. So if you’re curious what Orthrus Software are up to, drop them an email (support@orthrussoftware.com) or check out orthrussoftware.com.  

Revolutionising 3D Dose Rate Visualisation

Radiation Safety and Efficient Delivery

The nuclear industry is faced with the challenge of ensuring radiation safety and efficient delivery while dealing with the complexities of designing and operating nuclear facilities. In this context, dose rate visualisation plays a vital role in evaluating and visualising radiation sources and their impact on the surrounding environment. This information is crucial in making informed decisions to maintain a safe working environment for the workforce and the general public. 

However, traditional methods for dose rate visualisation often result in bottlenecks and inefficiencies in the workflow. To address these issues, Cerberus Nuclear is committed to revolutionising the field by developing cutting-edge tools that simplify the production of 3D dose rate contour visualisation. This approach will allow our radiation shielding assessors to perform accurate assessments quickly and effectively, leading to better outcomes for our clients. 

At Cerberus Nuclear, we understand the importance of dose rate visualisation and are dedicated to providing innovative solutions that address the challenges faced by our clients. Our goal is to streamline the process and make it easier to visualise dose rates in real-world applications, thereby improving the overall safety and efficiency of delivery. 

Cyclone: Streamline your Radiation and Criticality Workflows

Orthrus Software, a subsidiary of Cerberus Nuclear, introduces Cyclone TM, a modern and intuitive web-based software suite aimed at simplifying Monte Carlo workflows. This powerful tool is specifically designed for radiation and criticality problems and offers a range of features to help you visualise and analyse your data with ease. 

Text Editor
Particle Tracks
3D & 2D Dose Rate Contours

Cyclone has already been deployed across a wide range of dose-uptake assessments and has revolutionised the workflows of our in-house radiation assessors. With Cyclone, you can combine 3D MCNP geometry and dose rate contours with ease, enhancing your capabilities and improving your outcomes. For more information and instant sign up check out orthrussoftware.com.

Dynamic Radiation Assessments using Dose Time 

Dose Time TM focuses on revolutionising dose visualisation in the nuclear industry. It uses novel interpolation methods for the calculation and visualisation of dynamic 2D and 3D dose rate contour maps, providing an effective tool for visualising and calculating dose uptake in a variety of radiation scenarios. 

Let us transform how radiation assessments are performed with Dose Time and experience the benefits of efficient and effective dose rate visualisation. 

If you're interested in learning more about 3D dose rate visualisation, or if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch at nuclear@cerberusnuclear.com. Our team is always ready to assist and provide the right solution for your needs.

University of Birmingham Industry Lecture

Cerberus Nuclear has recently provided support to the University of Birmingham’s nuclear post-graduate masters courses. Geoff Hall and Katrina Christaki presented a lecture to students of the PTNR (Physics and Technology of Nuclear Reactors) and NDWM (Nuclear Decommissioning and Waste Management) courses as part of an ongoing industry lecture series. 

They gave an introduction to radiation shielding and criticality safety assessment in industry which was supported by case studies on the innovative projects that have been carried out by the Cerberus team over the past 12 months.

In particular, dynamic source movement assessment techniques were described and the benefits for use in radiation transport assessment were of focus, as well as a worked example of a dynamic waste package loading and transfer process within a facility with changing dose rate contours displayed live as package movements take place.

Worked Example of Dynamic Box Loading and Transfer

Cerberus's criticality training aid, CARTA, was also presented. CARTA is a brand new innovative tool that uses machine learning to calculate k-eff in real time for the purposes of operator training. CARTA is currently in development supported by NNL, AWE and Sellafield Ltd as part of the Alpha Resilience Capability. An early desktop version of CARTA was demonstrated to students providing an insight into the fundamental principles of criticality safety.

CARTA: Glovebox in VR, Tōkai-mura criticality simulation 

The lecture was well received by the students and provided an excellent demonstration of the unique and innovative work that individuals joining the team can look forward to getting involved with.

Cerberus supports summer placements from the NTEC (Nuclear Technology Education Consortium) postgraduate-level masters degree course, and we look forward to doing the same for the University of Birmingham later this year.

OpenMC Fusion Technology Course

Cerberus Nuclear recently provided OpenMC support to the Fusion CDT course at the University of York. As part of the course the students attend a week-long fusion technology module to learn about all aspects fusion including reactor technology, plasma physics and neutronics modelling. The week concluded with a workshop on the open-source neutronics transport code OpenMC. 

The OpenMC workshop was run by John Billingsley (Cerberus Nuclear) and Jon Shimwell (Firstlight Fusion). Together they presented a course on OpenMC teaching fusion neutronic transport analysis as well as providing the students with valuable insights from their industry experience. 

The students covered the use of Paramak for fusion reactor parametric geometry creation.

The workshop was aimed at beginners covering a wide range of topics including transport theory, running neutronic simulations, understanding material cross-sections, creating simulation geometries, scoring tallies, source definitions plus many more. 

The course was very well attended with students from master's to PhD level looking to gain industry experience and knowledge related to the exciting and rapidly developing field of nuclear fusion.

"After delivering the workshop remotely in 2021, it was great to be back at University of York. The workshop was a great success, with students developing from having little or no neutronics knowledge at all, to having a fundamental understanding of neutronics and its application, and being able to perform a variety of studies using OpenMC.

Many thanks to Prof. Bruce Lipschultz for inviting us back."

John Billingsley, Cerberus Nuclear

To find out more check out the links to OpenMC and University of York Fusion CDT.

Images: docs.openmc.org & paramak.readthedocs.io

ANDI: Sellafield Success Story

Cerberus Nuclear's ANDI (Automated Nuclear Damage Inspection) has been featured as a Sellafield Ltd success story.

As part of the latest update to the Sellafield opportunities guidance, Cerberus Nuclear has been featured within its SME action plan. The SME action plan reaffirms Sellafield's commitment to increase opportunities for SMEs within the supply chain recognising the adaptability, innovation and value that SMEs bring to help Sellafield deliver its mission.

As a public contracting authority Sellafield Ltd are committed to delivering activities which increase the opportunities for SMEs (small to medium enterprises) to do business with the supply chain. Sellafield have a target to spend 32 - 33% of supply chain spend with SMEs in 2021/22.

To find out more about how to do business with Sellafield go to https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-do-business-with-sellafield-ltd

To learn more about ANDI and our latest developments combining computer vision with 360 video go to ANDI360.

 

Nuclear Institute - Dynamic Dose Rates

As part of Cerberus Nuclear’s Radiation Protection Training Aid (RAPTA) continued development work has been performed regarding the visualisation of dynamic radiation systems.

A dynamic radiation system is where radiation sources can move or change properties in 3D space either during a task or a facility operation. Cerberus Nuclear have developed in-house software to process these complex systems and simulate dynamic radiation scenarios within reasonable timescales.

Sam Hilton will be presenting at the North West Nuclear Institute talking about the advantages of accurately modelling dynamic radiation systems and how this can improve the accuracy of dose uptake assessments. The event is on 16th June, is free to attend, registration can be found at:

NWNI Webinar Register - https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_YhBFB8E6QHO267kLetdNhA

Cyber Essentials Plus

As part of our ongoing commitment to cyber security, Cerberus Nuclear are pleased to announce the renewal of our Cyber Essentials Plus certification.

Cyber Essentials is a Government-backed and industry-supported scheme that helps businesses protect themselves against the growing threat of cyber attacks and provides a clear statement of the basic controls organisations should have in place to protect them.

The Cyber Essentials Plus certification involves a more rigorous test of a companies IT systems where cyber security experts carry out vulnerability and penetration tests to make sure an organisation is protected.

Our Cyber Essentials Plus certification provides additional confidence to all our clients regarding our approach to data security.

ANDI: 360 Tracking

This is our latest post regarding our software ANDI (Automated Nuclear Damage Inspection) and incorporating identification capability with 360 video data.

The 360 camera sector has advanced significantly over the past few years, camera resolution and image quality has improved greatly as well as advancements in software processing to provide multiple different ways of viewing the captured images and video. Cerberus Nuclear has been keeping up to date with latest developments with an aim of using this technology in the nuclear sector.

Cerberus recently developed ANDI (Automated Nuclear Damage Inspection) for Sellafield Ltd. The software automatically identifies key areas of damage from inspection videos and is currently being used by Sellafield to accelerate damage inspection tasks. The software is built into a user-friendly interface and supports the creation of reports and logging of key identified features.

Building upon our knowledge we are currently testing the use of 360 camera and video data with our custom computer vision algorithms, including ANDI. Some key advantages of using 360 data for automated damage inspection is that the orientation of the inspection camera is no longer a factor as images capture the full 360 degrees.

Similar technology is currently being used in autonomous vehicles for object identification and distance determination.

Footage obtained from a Cerberus Nuclear test car.

Our preliminary testing has proved to be very successful and we have overcome some of the challenges inherent in working directly with 360 data sets. The prototype software we have created demonstrates the capability of combining both 360 image technology with our bespoke computer vision algorithms.

Our goal is to continue the development of ANDI so this highly useful and innovative technology can be put to good use solving a wide range of challenges in the nuclear sector and beyond.

Look out for future updates, if you would like to learn more don't hesitate to get in touch at nuclear@cerberusnuclear.com.

New Starter - Emily McManus

We’re pleased to announce that Emily has recently joined Cerberus Nuclear as an experienced shielding assessor. As part of her role she will also be involved in business development and management tasks for the company to support our expanding team.

Emily has 6 years’ experience in radiation shielding and dose assessments. Until recently she was a SQEP 3 assessor for Sellafield Ltd and has worked on a range of decommissioning and new build projects supporting safety, engineering and design teams.  Highly proficient in radiation transport codes such as MCNP, MCBEND and RANKERN, she and has produced key documents in line with the Shielding Design Process including Shielding Design Basis, Classification of Areas, Bulk Shielding, Detailed Design as well as CID Placement Assessments.

Hobbies and interests wise she is big a fan of Fleetwood Mac and loves dogs, she has a Working Cocker Spaniel called "Stevie" named after Stevie Nicks.

Return to the Office

We have rearranged our office to be in-line with social distancing guidelines.

With most of the team still working from home we decided to re-purpose the space into a fully featured virtual reality suite. This enables us to take a big leap forward in our capability and we should have some exciting news on this front in the coming weeks!

The picture shows Sam getting to grips with an analogue of a JCS gamma dose rate monitor.

A big thank you to John Caunt Scientific for allowing us to use the monitor.