Cerberus Nuclear Support NNL Criticality Safety Training Course
We recently supported NNL with delivery of their UK Nuclear Criticality Safety Course. This is a long established training course in the UK and is supported by the University of New Mexico. Guest speakers from Sellafield Limited and ONR also contribute to the course.
Representatives from NNL have been key stakeholders in the development of CARTA, our criticality training application, via an Alpha Resilience and Capability (ARC) funded programme of work. Integration of CARTA into their criticality training course has been a key milestone for this programme of work and we were pleased to deliver this novel project on time.
At the criticality training course, we were delighted to see our ‘MAGIC MERV simulation’ being put into good effect in presentations regarding the factors that affect criticality. The ‘glovebox process simulation’ provided an interesting and lively group activity with the course instructors creating a series of challenging scenarios for the class to tackle. You can read more about the training simulations here.
In addition, Sam and Stewart were on hand to demonstrate the simulations in a Virtual Reality (VR) environment (both during the course and in the bar at the end of the day).
We would like to extend our thanks to NNL for their support in the development of this phase of the CARTA project and for hosting us on the course.
Cerberus Welcomes Employee Shareholders
January saw the first anniversary of our company EMI share option scheme, which is a government approved way of rewarding employees with share options. We are delighted that some of the team have exercised their options, becoming full shareholders of the company.
“We’re always looking into ways to genuinely recognise and reward our growing team. Sharing ownership of the company seems like a unique benefit that we can offer, and we’re really pleased that so many of the team are invested in the long-term success of the company” – Stewart Hay, Director.
“Personally I’ve always loved the benefits of working for a small technical consultancy. Among these is the financial transparency with company progress and project forecasts. Cerberus Nuclear’s EMI share scheme has taken these benefits to new heights by providing the opportunity for me to invest in the company directly and become a shareholder. The prospect of a nice pay out in future is definitely exciting!” – Sam Hilton, Consultant and Shareholder of Cerberus Nuclear.
Future U Mentoring Programme
Cerberus Nuclear recently supported the STEMFirst led Future U Mentoring Programme through the stem ambassador programme. Katrina Christaki delivered a presentation to Blackburn College as part of an ongoing series for educating and inspiring young people on different STEM career paths. The aim of the series is to develop the skills and increase the aspirations for a cohort of students that are less likely to consider higher education options, whether that be university or apprentice opportunities.
This particular session focused on the core skills used in multiple jobs in STEM, including teamwork, problem solving and coding. Katrina joined other STEM ambassadors in a ‘this is me’ presentation describing her job role and where these skills applied. While answering questions she also provided advice on describing these skills during interview. Katrina has this presentation available for use in other STEM ambassador events and looks forward to the next one.
UKAEA Fusion - STEP Reactor Shielding Design
Cerberus Nuclear and Assystem have been selected to deliver the STEP Reactor In-board Shield Design as part of the STEP Engineering Framework.
Cerberus’s neutronics and radiation transport expertise will play a key role working alongside Assystem’s well-established fusion experience in thermal and mechanical analysis.
The project concerns the extreme environment within the central column of the STEP fusion reactor where temperatures can range from over 100 million of degrees Celsius within the plasma to less than -200 degrees within just a few metres.
Tokamak Reactor MCNP® Geometry, produced using Cyclone™ Viewer by Orthrus Software.
Example Plasma Source & Neutron Interaction Cross Section used in Neutronics Calculations.
Cerberus Nuclear and Assystem are working closely with the STEP research team at UKAEA to develop radiation shielding and cooling strategies within the in-board shield section of the central column. The overall aim is to protect the sensitive toroidal magnets within the central column that work to contain the high temperature plasma. Cerberus role involves optimisation of the shielding to maximise the operational lifetime of these crucial reactor components. Using our knowledge and expertise in neutronics transport as well as interaction cross sections will be simulating a wide variety of arrangements to support continued development.
The delivery of this project is key in advancing the STEP fusion reactor design to the next phase, moving us closer to achieving a commercially viable fusion power plant.
“We are pleased to be working alongside Cerberus Nuclear on this key aspect of STEP. Collectively we will pool the engineering and design expertise, and specialist knowledge needed to ensure success in this project.
“Assystem is a well-established fusion engineering company working on multiple international projects, and we are invested in the UK’s ambition to accelerate progress in the development of this game-changing technology.”
Gary Reed, Transitional Energy Business Manager, Assystem
In its 13 countries of operation, Assystem’s 6,000+ experts are supporting energy transition. To achieve an affordable low-carbon energy supply, Assystem is committed to the development of decarbonised electricity (nuclear, renewables and electricity grids) and clean hydrogen. The Group is also helping drive the use of decarbonised electricity in industrial sectors such as transportation. Assystem is currently ranked as the second nuclear engineering group in the world.
"Cerberus is very proud to be contributing to such a noteworthy project with worldwide importance.
“The skills and experience we have in-house regarding radiation shielding is uniquely suited to support the project. Working closely with our colleagues at Assystem we look forward to the challenge of what will be a highly significant and exciting project.”
Daniel Cork, Director, Cerberus Nuclear
Cerberus Nuclear is an SME dedicated to radiation shielding, criticality safety and nuclear characterisation. Founded in 2016 we have grown rapidly to establish ourselves as an industry leader with a reputation for innovation and promoting good practice.
Our team has supported a wide range of projects within the civil nuclear, fusion, medical, research and defence sectors. Our mission is to “to provide high quality technical solutions with an emphasis on creativity and innovation. We achieve this by being an exemplary employer of talented individuals”
Cerberus Nuclear have recruited a number of graduate and early career staff over the last three years, including three new members of the radiation shielding team in September and October last year.
In order to train and maintain SQEP shielding assessors, our very own Peter Evans has been running "Shielding School", which consists of structured training and mentoring sessions to support advanced and early career members of the team along side their project work.
"It is essential that shielding assessors have the background knowledge to put their work into context, and are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of each of the tools available to them." - Peter Evans, Principal Shielding Consultant
The sessions are a mixture of lectures and demonstrations, and the attendees are encouraged to interact presenting challenges and lessons learnt each week. Each part of the Shielding Design Process is covered in detail, highlighting the input, calculations and output requirements for each step. "Homework" tasks for the attendees are set so that everyone has a chance to put the training into practice. This mix of theory and practical training is developing our graduate recruits into well rounded shielding assessors.
"Cerberus's shielding training is ace! It provides a wealth of insight into shielding techniques and best practises all within a friendly and interesting course." - Sam Hilton, attendee
"The feedback we have received within the company has been extremely positive. Having dedicated time within the business for the shielding team to come together, share knowledge and good practice is essential in achieving high standards for our clients. The time and effort put into the course is recognised by all the directors, well done Pete.” - Daniel Cork, Director
NTEC Shielding Design Process Lecture
The UK Shielding Forum (TSF) provides support for the Radiation Shielding Module of the University of Liverpool’s NTEC course, providing an industry focused knowledge input to the module.
Several TSF member organisations provide lectures on a wide range of subjects, from Monte Carlo and deterministic codes to practical radiation shielding applications.
As a key member of TSF, Cerberus Nuclear provides a student lecture on the Shielding Design Process. Our talk focuses on how this high-level process is used in industry to supporting facility design.
Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, our own Geoff Hall pre-recorded the lecture for the second year running, which was shown to students and very well received. Geoff then followed up the lecture with a live Q&A session where students were tasked to think about the practicalities of defining a shielding design basis and performing shielding calculations based on that design basis for a realistic scenario. They were then given the chance to ask general questions about the subjects covered in the lecture.
"The Radiation Shielding course has greatly benefited from input provided by professional experts from the shielding community. Geoff Hall recorded a lecture on the shielding design process and provided a follow up live structured Question and Answer session. These sessions were extremely well received by the students and provide an excellent insight into the professional skills required for shielding design." - Andy Boston, Course Lead.
The live session was well attended by students, who engaged with the exercise and asked a variety of pertinent questions both about the exercise and the lecture itself.
"Cerberus Nuclear has a long association supporting the NTEC course. It's great to see new people passionate about working in the industry and we hope that our involvement further encourages the students to take up a career in the nuclear sector." - Daniel Cork, Director
ISO Accreditation
We have been working hard to implement our Business Management System (BMS). The system provides the policies, processes, procedures and records of forms/templates for consistent management of the business, projects and personnel with regards to Quality, Environment and Health and Safety. At the heart of this system are our Quality, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety Policies.
The impact of the BMS can already be seen. The entire company was recently first aid trained, and we have been using Microsoft Forms for recording communication and training sessions, such as the mentoring sessions lead by experienced assessors for our new starters.
In August our BMS was audited by the British Assessment Bureau. We are excited to announce that, as a result of this external audit, we are now UKAS accredited for ISO Standards 9001 (Quality Management), 14001 (Environmental Management) and 45001 (Occupational Health and Safety)!
You can verify the validity of our ISO certificates by entering our certificate numbers (229161, 230299, 230300) via this link: www.british-assessment.co.uk/verify
New Starter - John Billingsley
Cerberus Nuclear are delighted to announce that John has recently joined the company. John has two years’ experience working on the UKAEA STEP Programme. During this time, he has gained experience with CSG- and CAD-based neutronics calculations, and methods of automated data analysis using Python scripting. Alongside his neutronics experience, John has extensively contributed to software development and to the open-source Monte Carlo code OpenMC.
John is looking to build upon his fusion knowledge in radiation shielding. He is attending mentoring sessions with the other new starters, lead by experience team members, to build upon his current expertise. John is also using his Python skills to support our innovation projects.
Graduate Starters
Cerberus Nuclear are proud to announce that two graduate consultants have recently joined the company. Henry Faulkner and Jacob Westerman have recently completed the NTEC (Nuclear Technology and Education Consortium) Nuclear Science and Technology Masters. They completed their Summer Placements with Cerberus and have since started full time.
Henry gained extensive experience using MCNP to model fissile arrays of barrels containing separated plutonium waste with differing compositions during his summer project. He analysed results using machine learning methods in Python to predict the safest possible arrangement of units. Henry is looking to build upon his knowledge and academic experience in both the shielding and criticality safety teams. In addition to his consultancy work, he is attending shielding and criticality mentoring sessions lead by our experienced team members in line with industry standards.
Jacob’s summer project included criticality calculations on three distinct fissile systems including a random and uniform heterogeneous system with immiscible liquids. He developed software using Python to generate all MCNP input files. This allowed for quick changes to be made and a range of properties investigated such as enrichment, particulate size and material, volume fraction and moderator material. Jacob is also attending shielding mentoring sessions lead by experienced members of the shielding team in order to further his career as a shielding consultant.
Since starting with the company, both Jacob and Henry have attended the company First Aid training course with St John’s Ambulance, and PHITS training run by JAEA to further develop their shielding skills.
