positivenergy T H E Q U A R T E R LY N E W S L E T T E R F R O M C A P U L A N U C L E A R
www.capulanuclear.co.uk www.capula.co.uk
October 2012 Issue 03
30 years of control & support for Sellafield
Capula’s Instematic controllers were the preferred plant controllers at Sellafield’s SIXEP and Fuel Handling Plants in the early ‘80s
Control & IT remain as important as ever for Capula at Sellafield Capula is celebrating 30 years of working at Sellafield to provide control system solutions and IT expertise. Ever since our Instematic system was identified by the site operators BNFL as the preferred plant controller for the Site Ion Exchange Effluent Plant (SIXEP) in the early eighties, Capula has enjoyed an excellent working relationship with the Sellafield site. The relationship has seen Capula move from product manufacturer to independent systems integrator, with our engineering expertise in control systems and project delivery being key reasons for our increasing involvement throughout the nineties on many projects on the site in Cumbria, as well as at other nuclear sites at Capenhurst, Magnox and beyond. Capula’s understanding of control and IT has seen us provide further value to clients throughout the energy and utilities markets.
Westlakes
In 2000, we opened our Nuclear Centre of Excellence at the Westlakes Science & Technology Park in Whitehaven, which has allowed us to service Sellafield’s control and IT requirements via a dedicated support team at a local base.
While continuing to support installed systems on site, Capula designed and developed a Virtual Infrastructure to migrate a number of the Windscale physical application servers onto the Sellafield domain network using virtualisation technology. It enables Sellafield to better manage and utilise hardware resources required to host the physical servers, while also providing them with a management platform from which to efficiently administer and monitor each virtual server and their hosting platform. More recently Capula secured a contract for the provision of both application support and development expertise at Sellafield, now run by Nuclear Management Partners and operated by Sellafield Ltd, which will see our work on the Sellafield site continue into its 30th year. “Capula has a fine track record of delivering effective control and IT solutions in the nuclear industry,” said Alex Moore, Nuclear Services Director for Capula, “Sellafield, under its different guises over the past 30 years, has been a key client for Capula as we’ve developed as a company. We’re proud of this landmark as it underlines our ongoing commitment to nuclear as part of the UK’s energy strategy.”
SevernTrentWater selects Capula as Strategic ICA Framework partner
We are delighted to announce that, following an extensive OJEU procurement process, Capula has been appointed by Severn Trent Water as their exclusive Strategic ICA Framework Partner with immediate effect. The term of the Framework will be to the end of AMP 6 (March 2020) and will include provision of major programmes of work such as large motor control centre (MCC) replacements, a major Telemetry upgrade programme, on-going support for complex solutions and specialist advice in developing an integrated ICA strategy to help Severn Trent Water deliver its business objectives. Capula are currently assisting Severn Trent Water in defining its PR14 submission to OFWAT for ICA funding and will continue to provide strategic advice, planning, preparation and training for standards and other delivery enablers leading into AMP 6. “This is an exciting opportunity to work in partnership with one of the largest water companies in the UK and together with their overall supply chain,” says Simon Coombs, Business Development Director. “We are pleased to have been selected for this strategic position based on our specialist automation and real-time IT skills, and extensive water industry experience.”
inside Staff numbers on increase • Paintball teambuilding • Cockermouth festival sponsorship