Cerberus Nuclear at SOFE 2023

Cerberus Nuclear recently attended the IEEE Symposium on Fusion Engineering (SOFE) in Oxford. The biennial conference with a focus on fusion excellence brings together scientists, engineers, researchers and industry professionals working in the field of nuclear fusion, providing a platform to exchange knowledge, collaborate on research, and discuss the latest developments in the field of nuclear fusion. The conference also provides opportunities for large fusion projects from both the public and private sector to showcase the progress of their powerplant initiatives.

Cerberus Nuclear were proud to participate in the conference programme, with John Billingsley presenting a poster to showcase the work of his recent development project. The project focussed on the development of optimisation techniques to inform the design of layered neutron shields using material cross-section data. The work generated a lot of interest, with optimisation techniques like this likely to play a key role in the design and delivery of commercial fusion reactors.

The week-long conference concluded with a tour of UKAEA’s Culham campus which is home to several major fusion research facilities and projects including the Joint European Torus (JET), which has been one of the world’s most significant experiments for achieving controlled fusion. The world-recognised campus is at the heart of fusion research in the UK, and is undergoing rapid development to be able to further innovate and solve challenges across the fusion sector and beyond. The tour also saw private fusion companies First Light Fusion and Tokamak Energy showcasing their latest technologies for achieving fusion.

“It was great to attend the SOFE conference in Oxford, not only to showcase the development work of Cerberus Nuclear, but to meet with professionals from across the industry to discuss how they are solving different challenges in fusion. The conference also provided opportunities to meet with former colleagues and friends, and to forge new relationships and opportunities for collaboration across the fusion industry. Thank you to UKAEA for hosting a fantastic conference, and I am looking forward to the next SOFE.”

Thank you to UKAEA for hosting a fantastic conference, and Cerberus Nuclear look forward to collaborating across the fusion industry to contribute to the realisation of clean, limitless energy.

New Starter: Sarah O'Sullivan

We are excited to announce that Sarah O'Sullivan has joined Cerberus Nuclear as a Criticality Safety Consultant. Sarah has two years experience as a nuclear safety consultant supporting waste treatment projects before focussing more specifically on Criticality Safety. More recently she has produced criticality hazard assessments for DSRL and EDF Cyclife along with providing criticality advice for High Active Waste Thermal Treatment concept plants at Sellafield.  Prior to this, Sarah completed a PhD in Nuclear Materials Science.

Welcome to the team Sarah, we're delighted that you decided to join us!

Cerberus Nuclear's Inaugural Summer Camping Trip

Cerberus Nuclear went camping over the weekend. A group of 10 employees pitched their tents together at Marbury Camp and Lodge along with their partners, children and fur babies.

The group started the weekend in a relaxed fashion, with a takeaway provided while they made camp. We learnt that the team don’t do things by halves, with most people arriving with 5-person tents and blow up beds for a luxurious camping experience. Some of the group took part in a game of cricket before it was paused after one of the dog fielders refused to give the ball back. The team sat around the fire and enjoyed drinks and s’mores throughout the evening, and an impromptu awards (bottle of wine) ceremony was held for employees nominated by their co-workers for recognition. Congratulations to all those nominated!

Saturday was a fun packed day. The team set off early to Manley Mere to meet Carl, Pete E and Lisa and their families for the Adventure Trial. The walk through the woods included obstacles to climb over, swing over, zipline down and plenty of rustic (Sam powered) rides.

With only minor injuries incurred, the team had a quick lunch before water sports in the afternoon. People were involved in kayaking, canoeing and stand up paddleboarding. Particular mention must be made to little Sam for holding his own on the 6-person stand up paddle board, and to Dan for losing his prescription sunglasses in the middle of the lake.

Little Sam on the Stand Up Paddleboard before the Sunglasses were lost

After a few naps were taken on the trip back to and at the campsite, an enormous BBQ ensued. Well done to Tom, Stew and Oscar for feeding us all, and to Stevie, Cora, Elsie and Seven for resisting the sausages until all the humans had finished eating! The team had a few drinks, played games and chatted late into the night until a thunderstorm encouraged most of them back into their tents.

Thank you to everyone for making it a wonderful weekend!

New Starter: Lisa Shenton

Cerberus Nuclear are delighted to announce that Lisa Shenton has joined the team as a Business Administrator. Her duties include supporting company marketing, finance and bid management arrangements, invoicing, and our Business Management System. As she is undertaking invoicing for the company, clients can expect to see emails from her going forward. 

Lisa started with the company in April and is already making a massive difference to the team. We would like to wish her a very belated but warm welcome! 

Cerberus Nuclear attend ANSWERS Seminar

Cerberus Nuclear recently had the privilege of attending the 57th Meeting of The Shielding Forum and the 103rd Working Party on Criticality (WPC) meeting during the annual ANSWERS seminar held in Bournemouth. Over the course of three days, professionals from the nuclear sector gathered to discuss key topics such as radiation shielding, reactor physics, and nuclear criticality, as well as recent developments and applications of ANSWERS software.

A few members of the Cerberus Nuclear criticality team also had the opportunity to attend the criticality day of the ANSWERS seminar. The forums were a gathering of industry experts from a range of different companies and licenced sites, all sharing an interest of growth and innovation within industry.

We would like to extend a massive thank you to the team at Jacobs for hosting the conference in sunny and beautiful Bournemouth, and the Hilton for its fantastic facilities. The team left feeling excited for the challenges ahead and a renewed sense of motivation for our in-house innovation work. Here’s to many more inspiring conferences and memorable times!

The WPC is a formal sub-group of the Safety Directors Forum, with a focus on criticality safety issues, promoting co-operation nationally and internationally. Cerberus was delighted to attend the semi-annual WPC meeting, which is an invaluable platform to learn from industry experts while gaining insights into the latest advancements. There were engaging group discussions on key issues facing UK criticality and exciting potential solutions. Some members delivered fantastic presentations speaking about new advancements and future possibilities in the criticality sphere.

It was great to see Katrina Christaki in a key role as the WPC secretary, and we look forward to Cerberus Nuclear’s continued active participation in the group and sub-groups. A big thank you to the dedicated WPC Chair Fred Winstanley for ensuring a thought provoking and productive event.

The Shielding Forum plays a major role in the event schedule, aiming to promote industry good practice and provide authoritative advice on all matters related to radiation shielding. As long-time supporters of TSF, Cerberus Nuclear were delighted to participate and benefit from the expertise shared by industry leaders. The presentations covered a wide range of topics, including the shielding design basis, fusion, and technical discussions on the latest analysis codes used in industry.

With continued support, TSF promotes the training and development of radiation shielding practitioners to ensure that the UK is, and continues to be, a centre of excellence for radiation protection. Thank you to Anton Murfin, the chair of TSF, for organising an engaging and informative meeting. We look forward to maintaining our involvement with TSF in the future.

Katrina Elected as WPC Secretary

Cerberus Nuclear is an active member of the Working Party on Criticality (WPC).  The WPC is a formal sub-group of the Safety Directors Forum.  The WPC’s focus is criticality safety issues up to, but not including, experimental and in-core power reactor operations. The issues considered are relevant to fabrication, transportation, storage and other operations relating to nuclear materials (e.g. new build, enrichment, reprocessing, decommissioning and long-term waste management).

Katrina Christaki, one of our criticality safety assessors, has recently been elected as secretary for the WPC. This role involves preparing the agenda and minutes for the meetings as well as management of the WPC papers. Katrina is excited to take on this key role supporting the activities of the WPC.

Cerberus Nuclear Offsets Carbon Emissions with Ecologi

Cerberus Nuclear is committed to reducing its carbon footprint. Our Environmental Policy states that we accept responsibility for the harmful effects our operations have on both the local and global environment, and that we are committed to reducing them. We are proud of the steps we are taking to reduce our environmental impact.  

Some of our company benefits that help reduce our company emissions are:  

In addition to the above, our strategy is to carbon offset our business travel miles. All employees log their business mileage after business travel in our Environmental Impact Travel Log. This allows us to calculate the carbon emissions from travel for offsetting, which can then be offset. 

Cerberus Nuclear uses Ecologi for carbon offsetting. Ecologi provides businesses with multiple climate solutions, from planting trees and nature-based projects to supporting carbon avoidance projects and renewable energy projects. Ecologi also visualises our impact, which you can view here.

Cerberus Nuclear Sponsor YGN Shielding and Criticality Event

Cerberus Nuclear were recently delighted to be the proud sponsors of the YGN Introduction to Shielding and Criticality Safety Event, organised by the esteemed Nuclear Institute Young Generation Network. The conference brought together a diverse range of delegates from across the nuclear sector to share their insights and expertise on Shielding and Criticality Safety.

The informative seminar was a resounding success, featuring notable speakers from various sectors. In addition, our very own Katrina Christaki, Sam Hilton and John Billingsley had the privilege of delivering captivating talks on the physics of criticality safety, a day in the life of a shielding assessor, and the application of shielding in fusion. As a proud sponsor, we also had the chance to showcase CARTA, our in-house criticality safety training tool, and the many ways it can address the unique challenges facing the nuclear industry.

The event’s comprehensive program was well received by attendees who praised the insightful presentations and dynamic discussions. This conference was especially meaningful as it addressed pressing industry concerns such as skill gaps in critical areas.

Thank you to Frances Yates for organising such an informative event, and we look forward to continued partnerships with the Nuclear Institute YGN and supporting future events that advance knowledge and collaboration in the nuclear sector.

Cerberus Nuclear present to Birmingham's post-graduate nuclear masters courses

Recently, Cerberus Nuclear provided support to the University of Birmingham’s post-graduate nuclear master courses (the Physics of Technology of Nuclear Reactors and Nuclear decommissioning) through a lecture presented by Katrina Christaki, Jacob Westerman, and Zachary Strangwood as part of an industry lecture series. 

During the lecture, the Cerberus team provided an introduction to radiation shielding, Monte Carlo codes and criticality safety assessment in industry, which was supplemented by case studies of their innovative projects in the past 12 months. 

Jacob highlighted dynamic source movement assessment techniques, their usefulness in radiation transport assessment, as well as demonstrating the shielding verification procedure by emphasising the training, equipment and safety measure required to conduct the process.  

Zachary, a recent graduate of the PTNR course, offered industry insight into how to accurately model and setup an example shielding problem by using Monte Carlo techniques. Additionally, Zachary discussed his dissertation project which consisted of modelling various radiation shielding scenarios with a moving source in MCNP. 

Katrina presented an introduction to criticality safety, highlighting the factors affecting criticality and where criticality safety fits into the industry. Furthermore, Katrina presented CARTA, a Cerberus developed criticality training tool that employs machine learning to calculate k-eff in real-time for operator training and provided an opportunity to the students to test the tool with a VR headset. 

The lecture was well-received by the students, providing them with an excellent understanding of the unique and innovative work done by the Cerberus team. 

Additionally, Cerberus plans to supervise similar dissertation projects to the one Zachary completed last year, supporting the University of Birmingham and the NTEC master’s courses. If this is something you may be interest in whether a student of one of these courses or not, please get in touch.   

Sellafield Ltd Supply Chain Forum Special for International Women's Day

Our criticality safety assessors Katrina and Haleema represented Cerberus at the Sellafield Supply Chain Event in March. The event was a women’s special, falling just after international women's day, and was only attended by women in the supply chain and at Sellafield Ltd.

It was so great to hear from different SMEs and all the great projects currently going on. It was especially great hearing from the next generation coming up through the Sellafield apprentice schemes. We wish them all the success in their next chapters! Another fantastic presentation was from the Jacobs women’s network, and we look forward to hearing and collaborating more in the future.

- Haleema H, Criticality Safety Consultant

At the forum, companies are given the opportunity to give a 60 s pitch. Katrina Christaki took the challenge and pitched Cerberus Nuclear to the other attendees at the forum!

Cerberus looks forward to continuing collaboration with Sellafield and to attending the next supply chain forum.