PTNR Industrial Lecture 2025

Cerberus Nuclear returned to the University of Birmingham to deliver an industrial lecture for the Physics and Technology of Nuclear Reactors (PTNR) masters course. Katrina, Toby, and Zac are all alumni of the PTNR course and were excited to return to campus for this presentation.

Katrina opened the presentation, introducing the students to Cerberus Nuclear and the work we do in radiation shielding, criticality safety, as well as nuclear characterisation and innovation.

Zac then discussed radiation shielding in more detail, talking to the students about the different areas of the shielding design process, the importance of these areas, and examples of how an assessment is carried out for each of these areas. The radiation shielding section of the presentation was capped off with a discussion of shielding verification techniques.

Toby delivered the criticality safety section of the lecture, engaging the students with quickfire questions about the factors affecting criticality. He also discussed his experience working as a criticality safety assessor, and introduced the students to criticality safety training resources including CARTA, Cerberus Nuclear's VR criticality training tool.

Katrina closed the presentation with a discussion of career opportunities in the nuclear industry, shining a spotlight on the Working Party on Criticality (WPC) and The Shielding Forum (TSF). It was a fantastic day and was great to catch up with Professor Paul Norman and meet the new cohort of PTNR students.

We would like to thank Paul for inviting us back and wish the current PTNR cohort the best of luck in the future!

HAWTT Team wins NDA Collaboration Award

Following on from the recent NDA supply chain event, we are proud to share that the Higher Activity Waste Thermal Treatment Team (HAWTT) were announced as the winners of the award for 'best example of delivering excellence through collaboration'! Cerberus Nuclear alongside NTS and NWS colleagues have been providing criticality expertise to the programme as part of a wider team composed of RED Engineering, Sellafield Ltd, Cavendish Nuclear, Tetronics, NNL and AtkinsRéalis.  

Our congratulations to everyone on the project whose hard work has been recognised in this achievement! 

We would like to recognise Sarah, Dan and Tom for their ongoing support on this project for Cerberus Nuclear (with extra thanks for Tom for kindly taking time away from a busy and successful supply chain event to represent Cerberus Nuclear at the receipt of the award). 

Cerberus Nuclear Return to Support NTEC Radiation Shielding Module

Cerberus Nuclear were pleased to once again support the NTEC Radiation Shielding module at the University of Liverpool, marking another consecutive year of involvement. Our consultant, Nick Seibt, delivered a lecture on the Shielding Design Process in collaboration with The Shielding Forum (TSF), which outlined the industry’s best-practice approach to designing effective radiation shielding for facilities handling radiation sources.

We are proud to continue supporting this aspect of the course and to provide students with valuable insight into the practical challenges and considerations of shielding design in industry.

In addition, our consultant, John Billingsley, provided support throughout the day, guiding students in the use of MCNP. It was also great to see so many students working with Cyclone, a state-of-the-art MCNP model viewer developed by Orthrus Software, which significantly streamlined the modelling of the students' experimental setups. The positive feedback on its usability and impact was especially rewarding to receive.

A big thank you to Professor Andy Boston and the NTEC course team for inviting us back again this year. We look forward to continuing our support in the future.

Cyclone Sage at RPSD 2024

Cerberus Nuclear were proud to support Orthrus Software at the ANS Winter Conference 2024 hosted at Sea World, Orlando, running from 17th to 21st Nov. This prestigious event brings together experts from across the nuclear industry, offering a platform to share progress, showcase projects, and discuss advancements in the nuclear sector. We were thrilled to connect with experts in the Radiation Protection and Shielding Division (RPSD) and attend a variety of interesting technical sessions.

Orthrus Software presented a talk on Cyclone Sage – a cutting-edge AI assistant designed to revolutionise MCNP input deck creation. Cyclone Sage stands out by delivering precise, hallucination-free inputs seamlessly integrated within Orthrus’ Cyclone UI. It’s an exciting step forward in the world of AI and Monte Carlo simulations, and we’re thrilled to see the positive response from the community. We look forward to continuing our support of the development of Cyclone Sage and trying out its exciting new features.

A huge thank you to the organisers of the conference and to everyone who put on such a great event. We look forward to coming back soon.

Our delegates, Dan, John and Pete (Orthrus Software) also managed to squeeze in some Florida sights, including an airboat tour – complete with lots of alligators!

Fire Safety Training

A group from Cerberus Nuclear recently received fire safety training. Our trainer for the morning was Steve Wilcock from North West Fire Training. The course started with a presentation on fire safety, which included what fire extinguishers to use in the event of a fire and fire marshal strategies. 

A huge amount of content was covered as part of the training course, but the team’s key takeaways included: 

  • Doors are a powerful tool in preventing the spread of fire, even if they are not a fire door; 
  • Always check the detector which has gone off, and;
  • Do not use a powder extinguisher in an office or home environment.

The presentation was interesting and Steve was very engaging! We were particularly in awe of how in sync he was with his presentation slides! 

After the presentation, the group had a chance to put what they had learnt to the test by putting out fires using a CO2 and foam fire extinguisher.  

We’d like to say a massive thank you to Steve for delivering a great training course, and to Birchwood Golf Club for hosting us! 

University Careers Fairs 2024

Cerberus Nuclear attended two separate careers fairs on the 16/10/2024. John, Thomas, and Zac travelled to the University of Birmingham's STEM Fair while Dan, Sam, and Tom attended the White Rose Industrial Physics Academy Placement and Recruitment Fair based at the University of York.

Both trips were a success! We had the opportunity to talk to lots of interesting people with a wide variety of backgrounds and future career plans. We would like to thank the University of Birmingham, University of York, and the White Rose Industrial Physics Academy for their hands in organising these events and their hospitality throughout.

We love being able to introduce people to Radiation Shielding and Criticality Safety at these types of events as well as talking to those who already have aspirations to work within these fields. Cerberus Nuclear look forward to attending similar events throughout the year and hopefully returning to both of these events next year!

Cerberus Nuclear Stand at the University of York

Big Science Business Forum 2024

Cerberus Nuclear had the pleasure of attending the Big Science Business Forum 2024 in Trieste, running from 1st to 4th October. 'Big Science' refers to large scale collaboration on scientific projects funded by governments or international agencies. Sam and Dan had an excellent time at the forum, which was a great opportunity for networking, sharing knowledge, and exploring the latest trends across Big Science.

This year’s event showcased cutting-edge innovations and brought together organisations at the forefront of their industry with major names like CERN, the European Space Agency, and Fusion for Energy in attendance. We were particularly interested in discussions on fields where we can utilise our expertise in radiation shielding and activation analysis.

We were grateful to attend through the SME Track and were proud to present our poster on radiation shielding as part of the poster session. This was well received by attendees, and a big thank you goes to Andrew Weaver for his hard work in creating the poster.

The forum attracted organisations from across the globe, and we were glad to see strong representation from the North West and the Midlands. We had several valuable discussions throughout the forum, as well as during the social dinner in the city, which was a particular highlight of the trip.

The historic city of Trieste provided a wonderful backdrop to this year's event. Sam and Dan made some great connections and we look forward to any future collaborative projects that come from this.

New Starter: Thomas Scone

We are delighted to announce that Thomas Scone has joined Cerberus Nuclear!

Thomas has joined us after working as a Teaching Fellow for the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Birmingham, for the last 2 and a half years. Thomas was the Mechanical Engineering Lab Lead for the School of Engineering, managing the design and delivery of various module labs for students. In addition, he developed materials for delivering teaching on ethics in engineering, Finite Element Analysis (FEA), and design practises across various modules. His PhD research covered the statistical analysis of large gait data sets and the modelling of magnetic fluids for soft robotic gait rehabilitation.

Thomas will be putting his experience to good use supporting our Nuclear Characterisation team and Innovation Projects, as well as training in Radiation Shielding and Criticality Safety. Welcome to the team Thomas!

Sam and Toby's Charity Ride for the Jacob Billington Trust

Cerberus Nuclear are thrilled to share news that two of the team - Sam and Toby, recently completed an incredible cycling fundraiser in support of the Jacob Billington Trust (JBT). 

The JBT is a north west-based charity founded in 2022 for the benefit of young people in the Sefton area. Its objective is to assist young people in accessing music and the creative arts via a number of initiatives, such as: part-funded music lessons, song writing and storytelling sessions, funding for rehearsal spaces and courses, and live events showcasing amazing local talent. One of our employees, John, is also currently a Trustee of the charity. 

Over the course of three days, Sam and Toby pedalled over 200 miles from Southport to Hornsea to complete the famous coast-to-coast Trans Pennine Trail. Their journey was filled with incredible views, endless camaraderie, and miraculously, not a single puncture! Daily updates on their progress were shared on their JustGiving page which kept us all on the edge of our seats, rooting for them every mile of the way. 

With very tired legs, but high spirits, Sam and Toby raised an astounding £1400, completely surpassing their original target of £1000 which is testament to their dedication and hard work. We are incredibly proud of them both for taking on the challenge in support of a great cause. 

At Cerberus Nuclear, we encourage our employees to challenge themselves and to give back to the local community. We are incredibly proud of what Sam and Toby have achieved, and because of this, we have contributed a further £1000 to the JBT.

"Corporate donations play a pivotal role in the nonprofit sector, and we are incredibly grateful to Sam, Toby, and Cerberus Nuclear for their outstanding support. Their combined efforts not only raise crucial funds to support the young people of Sefton, but also spread awareness of our goals as a charity. A huge thank you to you all."

- Sam D'Auvin, Chair of Trustees of JBT

If you’d like to learn more about the JBT and their work, check out the link here. 

Universities' Nuclear Technology Forum 2024

We’re happy to share that one of our criticality consultants, Haleema, recently attended the Universities’ Nuclear Technology Forum 2024, hosted by the University of Leeds.

The forum brought together industry and academia, exploring current research and advancements. Particular presentation standouts were Ewan Woodbridge (University of  Bristol) “The Utilization of Legacy Mine Sites as Training Environments for Radiological Emergency Response Preparedness”, and Dr Mariia Zimina (University of Bristol) “ Neutron irradiated materials studies: challenges and prospects”. It was interesting to reflect on the current work at Cerberus Nuclear and the potential applications of research into industry.

As part of the event Haleema was able to tour the MULTIForm laboratory facilities, which specialise in experimental investigation into the study of multiphase flows in water/acidic systems and high temperature molten salt systems. Lastly Haleema really enjoyed seeing the famous University of Leeds rabbits that were enjoying the summer weather in St. Georges field.

Thank you to the event organisers for putting on an excellent event in the historic University of Leeds campus.