Aquila Nuclear Engineering Ltd, part of the Calder Group, the £178m pan-European engineering group, has presented at the 55th edition of the Annual Meeting on Hot Laboratories and Remote Handling (HOTLAB) in Helsinki, Finland, hosted by the Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd (VTT).
Held on 16-20 September 2018 at Helsinki Congress Paasitorni, this was Aquila’s fifth consecutive visit to the HOTLAB Conference which has become the major global forum for technicians, operators, engineers, researchers and suppliers, working at and developing nuclear Hot Cell facilities.
Aquila’s Senior Mechanical Engineer, Gary Butler, delivered a presentation and technical paper entitled ‘Fit For Purpose Design For Remote Operations: Handling The Hot Potatoes’, providing an insight into how Aquila has delivered pragmatic, fit-for-purpose solutions to clients facing challenging ‘In Cell’ projects. Aquila’s new Hot Cell-focused exhibition stand provided the perfect platform to engage with delegates and network throughout the conference. The presentation was extremely well received and generated a great deal of interest, prompting a variety of delegates to visit Aquila’s stand to discuss the challenges they face and Aquila’s capabilities.
The three-day conference included 47 technical presentations, networking & exhibition sessions and a poster session showcasing 23 projects. This was then followed by a technical tour of the brand new VTT Hot Cell Facility and a tour of the Posiva Final Repository.
With over 140 delegates, representing 21 countries, the event offered Aquila a truly global overview of the Hot Cell Market and extensive opportunities to discuss Aquila’s capabilities with existing and potential clients. The event also provided a platform to discover how international Hot Cell users are developing technologies, utilising their Hot Cells, and what plans they may have for new facilities.
Aquila is looking forward to next year’s HOTLAB being held in Mamallapuram, India.
Read Aquila’s technical paper, Fit For Purpose Design For Remote Operations: Handling The Hot Potatoes
For more information, contact Drew Corbett, Nuclear Business Development Manager, Aquila Nuclear Engineering Ltd.
View our white paper prepared for HOTLABS 18
Aquila’s Engagement in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) has picked up with the decision to take on 2 design apprentices through SETA; 1 work placement undergraduate under the Year in Industry programme and 2 graduate positions.
The Design apprentices will work under the supervision of Chris Thomson’s team, Aquila’s Engineering and Projects Director and the Year in Industry and Graduates under the supervision Dave Barker’s commercial team.
Dave Barker, CEO said, “We have some good internal development projects for the apprentices and graduates to get stuck into, which have real market potential”.
Aquila Nuclear Engineering Ltd, part of the Calder Group, the £178m pan-European engineering group, has attended the inaugural Big Science Business Forum (BSBF) in Copenhagen, Denmark, following an invitation from the Science and Technology Facilities Council.
Held on 26-28 February 2018 in Copenhagen, the Big Science Business Forum brought together nine of the world’s largest research facilities and 1000 scientists, engineers, business executives and government officials from 29 European nations. The event focused on the commercial opportunities available to European industry, with procurement opportunities and orders worth more than EUR 12 billion.
Organised by CERN, EMBL, ESA, ESO, ESRF, ESS, European XFEL, F4E and ILL, a further nine Big Science organisations joined the conference, resulting in 18 of the world’s most advanced Big Science organisations coming together, all under one roof.
All these Big Science facilities and organisations require high-tech solutions and provide great innovation and growth opportunities for private companies, like Aquila Nuclear Engineering Ltd, a specialist in the nuclear engineering field.
Drew Corbett, Nuclear Business Development Manager, Aquila Nuclear Engineering Ltd, said:
“We were delighted to have been invited to the very first Big Science Business Forum. The event provided an unparalleled insight into Europe’s Big Science projects, detailing potential commercial opportunities, allowing direct access to Industrial Liaison Officers and facilitating dialogue between a wide range of supply chain contributors from across the world.
This forum proved an excellent platform to share Aquila Nuclear Engineering’s experiences and capabilities, as we look to increase awareness of our services, internationally. We now look forward to developing the relationships initiated at the event and attending the next BSBF!”
Aquila Nuclear Engineering Ltd, part of the Calder Group, the £165m pan-European engineering group, is continuing to grow in both size and scale, and has opened up another new facility at their offices in Twyford, Hampshire, UK.
Unit 15, the new 2000 square foot facility at Hazely Enterprise Park, has been acquired by Aquila and will house Aquila’s Design Engineering and Project Management teams, following further contract awards in 2017 from across the EU and, more recently, the United States.
Dave Barker, CEO, Aquila Nuclear Engineering Ltd, said:
“2017 was a busy year with multiple contract wins. Our tendering activity saw a 25% increase in opportunities and a 30% increase in our hit rate, as well as existing clients returning with more work for Aquila. We’ve been continuing to build the brand and are ready for a great 2018.”
Aquila celebrated the opening of the new facility with an employee event, gifting staff with Aquila goodie bags, including Aquila Nuclear Fuel Ale.
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Aquila Nuclear Engineering Ltd, part of the Calder Group, the £165m pan-European engineering group, is creating closer ties with French nuclear equipment manufacturer, Getinge La Calhene (GLC).
Aquila Nuclear Engineering Ltd is the sole UK distributor of GLC products and members of its commercial team have recently completed a comprehensive training programme, hosted by GLC, to learn more about GLC product details and applications.
Getinge La Calhene’s products include double-lidded posting systems (DPTE) for safe transfer of radioactive material, Master Slave Manipulators (MSM) for handling in hot cells, and shielded flasks for radioactive material movement on site (PADIRAC).
Drew Corbett, Business Development Manager, Aquila Nuclear Engineering Ltd, said:
“This training has been invaluable and, with the global market for hot cell and containments expanding, Aquila has made the decision to build its own in-house training and trials facility at its technical center in Winchester, Hampshire.”
Dave Barker, CEO, Aquila Nuclear Engineering Ltd, said:
“Our relationship with Getinge La Calhene goes back many years and their products align exactly with our four product categories; containment, shielded facilities, remote handling, and transport & packaging. We know how to engineer the GLC products into a complete system build which is great news for our clients as it’s proven technology installed worldwide.”
Aquila Nuclear Engineering Ltd, part of the Calder Group, the £165m pan-European engineering group, has been awarded the contract to design and manufacture a Drum Housing Unit (DHU) for use with monitors, for the detection of radon by Magnox Limited.
The DHU will be installed at Magnox’s Harwell site to house radioactive waste drums to enable the measurement of radon gas emanating, prior to their transfer to another site for long-term storage. A key area of focus will be achieving a durable and adequate seal to prevent radon gas escaping from the DHU during the monitoring process.
Dave Barker, CEO of Aquila Nuclear Engineering Ltd, said:
“2017 continues to be a great year for Aquila and we are pleased to be awarded this contract with Magnox Limited. Aquila has a vast amount of experience in offering pragmatic and effective solutions to containment challenges. We are looking forward to working with Magnox and adding the Drum Housing Unit to our containment portfolio.”
The scope of the contract includes solutions for the complete DHU housing sealing arrangements, including testing plan and maintenance requirements, all lifting features and connections for vacuum extract and radon monitoring devices. All manufacturing drawings and production of the DHU is within the scope, including the Works Acceptance Testing.
Aquila Nuclear Engineering Ltd, part of the Calder Group, the £165m pan-European engineering group, has been awarded a contract by Magnox Limited to design and manufacture an external mixing unit as part of the Modular Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) Encapsulation Pre-Conditioning Project at Hinkley Point A.
Work will comprise the design and supply of a horizontal shaft mixer for the immobilisation of sludge with cement powders and an associated washing system. The equipment will be installed on a mezzanine steelwork platform to be located within a new portal frame clad building at Hinkley Point A in Somerset.
The scope includes the sizing of the building to install and operate the mixer system, design and supply of the mixer, cement delivery system and all associated plant and equipment. The system will be capable of being operated locally, during commissioning, or remotely, during operations, and the entire functionality will be demonstrated during an integrated Factory Acceptance Test.
Jim Fyfe, Project Manager, Magnox Limited, said:
“We are looking forward to working with Aquila, who put forward a very strong bid to win the External Mixing contract.”
Dave Barker, CEO of Aquila Nuclear Engineering Ltd, said:
“We’re delighted to be awarded this contract with Magnox Limited and look forward to working closely with the Magnox team. We believe this award recognizes our thorough open book approach to bidding in both technical and commercial terms.”
The summer of 2017 is a milestone for Aquila Nuclear Engineering as they exceed their metrics’ targets for both opportunities and order intake, within the nuclear industry.
Since its inauguration in 2011, Aquila has implemented a highly focused communication and growth plan. Combined with delivering to an exceptional standard, their strapline is ‘PRAGMATIC, COST EFFECTIVE SOLUTION, ALWAYS’, this has driven the success of the company.
Dave Barker, CEO, Aquila Nuclear Engineering said:
“2017 is a great year for the whole team at Aquila, we’re seeing continued growth in terms of sales and the size of our team and we put a lot of this down to our approach of delivering on our promises, delivering what we said we would, to our clients. It’s not just about the numbers though, we have a great culture at Aquila that means we overcome challenges in a collaborative way. We enjoy what we do, we like our clients and we enjoy coming to work, that makes things so much easier for everyone.”
To celebrate summer in style, Aquila Nuclear Engineering have collaborated with their design agency, The Glow Studio, to design their own ‘Nuclear Fuel’ ale brand.
Bowman Ales, an award-winning brewery local to Aquila’s Twyford offices (near Winchester), kindly agreed to let Aquila re-label their own Meon Valley Bitter bottles to feature Aquila’s very own customised label.
‘Nuclear Fuel’ ale will be given to Aquila’s clients and employees as gifts.