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Four future 'fissionaries' attend Nuclear Engineering course

In April 2010, Sam Birchall, Kalvin Jin Wai Chung, Lewis Hornby and Ben Youell, spent four days at Lancaster University finding out all about nuclear engineering with the help of the National Nuclear Laboratory based at Sellafield and the educational charity the Smallpeice Trust.

Fifty other pupils aged 14-16 years old from across the UK were involved in the course to help develop their interest and increase their understanding, providing an introduction to nuclear engineering and the skills needed to work in the expanding nuclear business. The course culminated in a variety of challenges including a Design and Make project
The course covered a range of issues such as radiation, the environment, decommissioning and waste. At the end of the course, the teams gave a presentation of their Design-and-Make project to senior executives of the NNL, taking into account working with radiation and what that means. The project was based on removing nuclear waste from a pond.
Dominic Rhodes, Technology Officer for the NNL who helped organise the course, said: "We are working closely with the university to ensure these students fully understand the opportunities available.

"The nuclear industry is growing and with it we need more skilled people at all levels. This course gives pupils a real hands-on feel for what it would be like to work in the industry in the future during a period of expansion."

Spokesperson for the Smallpeice Trust Gemma Murphy said: "This kind of course gives the students a taste of university life and a genuine insight into the real-life challenges faced by engineers in the nuclear sector. We see this as a successful collaboration which works for everyone involved."

 

Nuclear Engineering May 2009


Ben Youell says:

During the Easter break a few classmates and I embarked on a nuclear engineering course not quite knowing what to expect.

Having realised we have a common interest in physics, and wanting to explore the world of engineering, we asked Dr Patchett about the course he had previously mentioned. After getting accepted we arrived at Lancaster University for four days of engineering and university experience. We were there with a different range of people, from Liverpool to London. Soon after arriving we were given a basic teaming-building exercise; making a bridge out of thin straws of pasta. Due to Mr Irvine's bridge mechanics and design lessons from years gone by we managed to easily beat all of the other teams, which gave us a great confidence boost.

Between lectures from the occasional mad professor, and interacting with other people we met there, we were set the main project: Design and Build. This was challenging. To extract "radioactive sludge" - (in our case harmless magnesium oxide), from a pool that has been used for waste storage for many years. Of course the pool was scaled down, to about a metre long. There were also uranium and steel rods in the pool. We couldn't use magnetism because the uranium may have been picked up, which was radioactive. We decided to build a device for this job: a pumping mechanism. Due to the fact the undisturbed water was our shield from radiation we needed a layer of protection across the top of the pool, which we constructed. This was necessary as we were going to disturb the water, making it easier to pump, but putting us at risk if we had not had the protective cover. Successfully built, our robot was a front runner for the engineering course prize.

Sam Birchall, Lewis Hornby, Kalvin Cheung and I, Ben Youell recommend if anyone is interested that they talk to Dr Patchett, as the courses are interesting, and great fun!