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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
April 2013 Issue 05
Bruce Sherratt retires after 40 years’ service Pictured L-R: Roger Turner & Bruce Sherratt
We)bid)a)fond)farewell)to)long-serving)Health)&)Safety)Manager One of Capula’s longest serving members of staff has
retired after more than 40 years of service.
Bruce Sherratt joined the company in July 1972 and
retired this week following a rousing send off from
All signed up for Skills Passport Capula is pushing ahead with its commitment to the
training and development of our workforce to the standards required by the nuclear industry in the UK.
After joining the National Skills Academy for
Manager and was responsible for the management and
Nuclear in January, we are currently in the process
system, ensuring client requirements are fully satisfied
training and development programme.
implementation of the company’s quality management
while international system standards are complied with.
of integrating new methods into our existing Nuclear Services Director Alex Moore, pictured
After formally qualifying in Safety, Health and
below with National Skills Academy’s Julie Maykels,
in recognition of his achievement, Bruce said: “Working
role of Health & Safety Manager for Capula, acting as
industry that we demonstrate both capability and
of what Capula has achieved and the reputation it
customer sites while also playing an active role as a
friends and colleagues past and present.
In accepting gifts from the company and colleagues
for Capula has taken me all over the world. I am proud enjoys in its industries, and am honoured to have
Environmental Management in 2006, Bruce took up the
the focal point for all issues both in-house and on member of the North Staffordshire Health & Safety
worked with the many colleagues and friends that make
Group Executive Committee.
difference for me.”
Buckingham to be closer to their grandchildren.
North Staffordshire Polytechnic with a first class degree
thanks for Bruce’s dedicated service throughout his
the company what it is – this is what makes the
Bruce joined Capula in 1972 after graduating from
Capula would like to place on record its sincerest
career and wish him a happy and relaxing retirement.
full implementation of developments and customer
cornerstone of the business throughout his career with
projects from inception to final commissioning.
In 1979 he became Capula’s Quality Assurance
experience in key areas. The training standards of
the Skills Academy help us achieve that.”
Bruce and wife Shirley now plan to relocate to
in Electrical Engineering and was soon promoted to the
role of Senior Engineer where he was responsible for the
said: “It is crucial to Capula’s continued success in this
Chief Executive Roger Turner said: “Bruce has been a
Capula, always in the right place at the right time to help others. We wish him every success in his future years.”
INSIDE: Modicon PLC replacement • Supporting Stoke foodbank • The Sentinel Business Awards
Praise for Sellafield PLC replacement
Capula has been commended by Sellafield Limited following the successful
completion of a contract to upgrade a number of PLCs within the Magnox East River project area of the client’s Cumbria site. We replaced a total of 13
Modicon 684 PLCs which had reached their end of life with Rockwell
ControlLogix PLCs.
The contract was delivered in two phases – firstly to document what already
existed for each system and secondly to take those results and produce the
replacement code and finally build the cubicles.
This involved creating a
simulation model at our secure facility in Stone and replicating how the real plant
behaves and then running the old and new systems together in parallel to demonstrate the new system’s capabilities.
The level of confidence the client took from this was considerable, to the
extent that Sellafield plans to disseminate the learning from the project through their PES Centre as good practice.
Paul Shallcross, MER CE&I Responsible Engineer for Sellafield Limited, said:
“The first PLC was successfully installed on time without any issues, which has been recognised with the company as a major achievement.”
Supporting local foodbank initiative
Capula staff have raided their kitchen cupboards for
non-perishable food items to donate to the Stoke-on-
Trent foodbank, part of The Trussell Trust’s foodbank network.
Foodbanks provide a minimum of three days
emergency food and support to people experiencing crisis in the UK.
Compelling talks at NI lectures
“Supporting our local community is very important
to us at Capula,” said Chief Executive Roger Turner, “and
in these difficult economic times, the foodbank network provides a valuable service to those who need it the
most – we are pleased to support this initiative.”
Judy Dunk of St Dominic’s Priory School said: “Myself
and the students at St Dominic’s Priory School in Stone
Capula staff at our Stone headquarters donated a
have been working with the Stoke-on-Trent Foodbank
tomatoes, cereals, tea bags and tinned meat, fish and
found the whole experience inspirational and it has
variety of items, including sugar, soup, pasta sauces,
vegetables to create a number of food boxes collected
by St Dominic’s Priory School in Stone.
from its inception at the beginning of 2012. We have
given the students an appreciation of the issues that have arisen from our current economic climate.”
Picture courtesy of Staffordshire Sentinel News & Media
The Nuclear Institute North West branch’s series of
lectures for 2013 - sponsored by Capula Nuclear - got off to an excellent start with three highly informative events at The Centre, Birchwood Park,
Warrington.
The first, delivered by Francis Livens (Research
Director of the Dalton Nuclear Institute) in January
talked about The Committee on Radioactive Waste
Management (CoRWM) and its Role in Managing Radioactive Waste Safely.
The second was given by David Watson (Project
Director GDA for the Office of Nuclear Regulation)
in February on the Regulation of Nuclear New Build.
March saw David Riley of URENCO ChemPlants
Ltd talk about the Tails Management Facility at Capenhurst.
The next lecture in the series has been confirmed:
9th April - RV Moore lecture - Joint event with IMechE - The Challenges of procurement and Construction presented by the next generation of Nuclear Power Plants. Chris Squires (EDF Energy) and
Tom Lambkin (Atkins). Manchester University.
As the leading gold sponsor of these events,
Capula Nuclear is proud to support these valuable sessions.
Capula honoured at Business Awards
Capula is celebrating after being recognised in this year’s
Staffordshire heritage at Capula and it was pleasing to
Sentinel Business Awards, which gathered influential
see so many companies we enjoy good links with also
Stoke-on-Trent to reward excellence among the region's
are working hard to make a real difference to the
leaders from a range of industries at the King’s Hall in workforce. It was the biggest in its history with around 130 submissions from a broad range of entrants.
Capula was named as a runner-up in the Science in
Business category alongside The Green Electrician Group
and eventual winners Wells Plastics.
“We’re thrilled to have been recognised in this year’s
Awards and offer our congratulations to the fellow
nominees and winners for their success,” said Marketing Manager Steve Braund, “We are proud of our local
winning or being nominated for awards – together we region’s economy.”
Sentinel Editor-in-Chief Mike Sassi said: “The Awards,
now in its 18th year, goes from strength to strength and the quality of this year’s entries was exceptional. The
judges really had their work cut-out and all of the
companies who made the shortlist deserve huge credit
for being outstanding examples of innovation,
endeavour and skill in their respective fields.”
new fuel waste processing safety systems health monitoring radiological surveillance materials trackin
News from around the Nuclear industry source: www.world-nuclear-news.org
UK SEIZES THE DAY WITH NEW NUCLEAR STRATEGY
is committed to the UK's decision to join the Jules
out plans to maximise opportunities for economic
and their fuel cycles will be kept under review.
Pushker Kharecha, noting that the life-cycle mortality
LIFE-SAVING CASE FOR NUCLEAR
report.
A new strategy published by the UK government sets
growth in the nuclear energy sector home and abroad. A joint statement by the UK's business secretary
Horowitz Test Reactor Program. Future reactor designs
estimates from fossil combustion pollution. This is
probably an underestimate, said Hansen and co-author
estimates are the biggest source of uncertainty in the
Vince Cable and energy secretary Ed Davey, the
A landmark study has put the figure of 1.84 million on
Future is the latest stage in plans to publish strategies
nuclear power instead of fossil fuels. The report co-
The generic design assessment for Hitachi-GE's
"clear expectation that nuclear will play a significant
presents a dramatic new case for nuclear energy.
with the signing of agreements by the company and UK
the government's plans to align the UK as a leading civil
sector and estimating emissions from fossil fuels that
industrial strategy document entitled The UK's Nuclear for eleven key sectors. It sets out the government's
role in the UK energy mix in the future" and outlines
the number of lives saved by the worldwide use of authored by former NASA scientist James Hansen It takes historic generation data from the nuclear
UK STARTS ABWR DESIGN ASSESSMENT
Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) has begun nuclear regulators.
The agreements follow a January 2013 request by
nuclear energy nation.
would likely have met the equivalent generation if
then-UK energy minister John Hayes for the Office for
National Nuclear Users Facility for universities and
performance below 65% capacity factor were swapped
to conduct the GDA process for the ABWR, which
centres at the National Nuclear Laboratory at Sellafield,
swapped for coal, which worked out as a mix of 95%
A key commitment is £15 million to establish a new
companies doing nuclear technology research, with
nuclear had not been used. Nuclear plants with poorer
for gas generation while higher performers were
Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Environment Agency
Horizon Nuclear Power is proposing to build at two UK sites. The signature of a formal charging agreement
the Culham Centre for Fusion Technology and the
coal and 5% gas replacing nuclear.
and regulatory nuclear interface protocol by the
million of support is to be awarded to 35 nuclear
have probably led to the deaths of 1.84 million people
process can now begin in earnest.
University of Manchester's Dalton Cumbrian facility. £18 research and development projects, while £12.5 million
The results projected total emissions that would
between 1971 and 2009 based on average mortality
regulators and the reactor vendor mean that the
What else is happening at Capula? CAPULA PRAISED FOR SAFETY PERFORMANCE
BBC’s transmitting facilities in the 1990s, the site was sold
to conduct system tests from Stafford prior to shipping
performance” at Liverpool Bulk Terminal by our client,
VT Communications who commissioned Capula to
savings.”
Capula has been singled out for “outstanding safety
to Merlin Communications which was later acquired by
Hargreaves Industrial Services Engineering Solutions.
replace the broadcast control system in 2008.
earlier this year to implement a new control system at
Communications in 2010 and now own and operate
with our scope of work covering control system designs,
hours of short- and medium-wave broadcasts every day,
We were engaged by Hargreaves Industrial Services
Liverpool Port for E.ON’s new biomass bulk fuel terminal, cable
designs,
cubicle
manufacture,
software
configuration, works testing, partial site installation and commissioning of the new control system.
Babcock
Communications
then
acquired
VT
and installing overseas, resulting in time and cost
THIRD PHASE OF UK POWER NETWORKS’ LCNF PROJECT
Capula has successfully completed and delivered the
global broadcast infrastructure that transmits over 1,000
stand-alone phase of UK Power Networks’ Distribution
linking broadcasters to their audiences worldwide.
and won a contract for the third and final phase.
to non-forecasted issues that could affect the operation
Carbon Networks Fund (a £500m fund set up by Ofgem),
Capula’s support contract allows for a faster response
Network Visibility project (covering the London area) The purpose of the £2.9m project, funded by the Low
of 150,000 hours accident free, described by Hargreaves
performance and uptime of the system as a result.
overall
is to develop a smart central repository for data from
“truly remarkable”. She went on to say that “Achieving
CAPULA ASSISTS ALSTOM IN BUILDING THEIR ON-SITE
provide greater understanding and insight into
dedication and the effort by everyone involved.”
Capula are providing control cubicles for Alstom’s new
In March, the site reached a milestone achievement
Industrial Services’ Managing Director Julie Haynes as
such standards is the result of Capula’s commitment, Capula’s Chief Executive, Roger Turner, said: “This is
a great accolade from Hargreaves Industrial Services
which speaks highly of the standards Capula continues
to strive for in project delivery.
We look forward
to continuing our involvement and sustaining this level
of performance.”
BABCOCK EXTENDS CAPULA SUPPORT AGREEMENT
Babcock Communications has agreed a four year
extension of Capula’s support contract for the Broadcast Control System Woofferton in Ludlow.
Woofferton transmitting station is a shortwave
broadcasting site, originally built by the BBC during World War II to house additional shortwave (HF)
broadcasting transmitters. Following privatisation of the
of
the
control
system,
increasing
the
CUBICLE TEST FACILITY
on-site test facility. This project is the latest project
existing operational and business systems which can then be combined, transformed and visualised to
interactions across the network.
Capula has developed a software tool to interface
with the central data repository based on the OSIsoft PI
Capula have worked on with Alstom as part of our on-
System and implemented a series of models, analytical
power transmission and smart grid technology.
data to be turned into meaningful operational
going relationship with the leading global provider of
Completion of this project means Alstom will have a
world leading facility in their Grid sector in Stafford from which to test and support their HVDC and FACTS
Systems. This is particularly advantageous to Alstom with
their work on projects overseas, for which Capula has provided cubicles over the past four years.
“The installation of this facility allows Capula to
improve upon the already high level of support we
provide to Alstom Grid on some high profile cubicle
build projects,” said Chris Conn, Transmission &
Distribution Manager for Capula, “Alstom will be able
approaches and visualisation solutions which allow raw
information.
The third phase – integration – will see Capula
deliver improvements including new functionalities and
visualisations that will help UK Power Networks better understand the condition of its distribution network.
“The Distribution Network Visibility project is a
significant one,” said Capula’s Business Development
Director Simon Coombs, “We are moving ever closer to
the implementation of smart grids in the UK and the
experience we have gained in this field has enabled us to play a pivotal role in this landmark programme of work.”
ng life extension power generation defence EC&I design and manufacture IT solutions support services
NEW APPOINTMENTS Capula remains
committed to recruiting suitably
CAPTION
! n o i t i t e p com
qualified and experienced (SQEP)
staff - particularly for our work in the
nuclear industry. We are therefore
Can you come up with a caption
pleased to welcome a number of new
for the adjacent photo, featuring
faces to the company:
Scott Phillips joins the company as a
Phil Winstanley of Capula’s Pur-
Lead Engineer based in our dedicated
a
department?
Matthew Rowland also takes up a
s
i
n
g
E-mail your suggestions to
position as an Engineer on Nuclear projects and Ryan Scott
h
c
secure facility at Beacon House, while
positivenergy@capula.co.uk and
joins our
the winning entrant will have
Westlakes office in Cumbria as a
their caption printed in the next
Trainee Engineer after completing A
issue.
Levels in Electronics, IT & Psychology.
Closing date for entries:
All)images)&)content)©)Capula)Limited)2013)unless)otherwise)stated.))Not)to)be)reproduced)without)written)consent.
IN BRIEF
Friday 21 June 2013
Phil Winstanley
C ONGRATULATIONS
to
Capula
colleagues and partners Leo Wheeler
(Graduate Engineer) and Rebecca
Heron (Project Administrator) - both of Stone office - on the birth of their
first child, George, who was born on Sunday 3 February weighing in at 7lb
7oz.
F IRST AID TR AINING The following
individuals recently completed first aid training at Capula’s head office:
Lee Hancock, Jim Taylor, Ben White,
Iain Cameron, Krzysztof Kozlowski,
Tracey Francis, Rachael Francis, Mark
Wingate-Marsh, Lee Carter, and Richard Berwick.
The winning suggestion for last issue’s competition came from Miles Kitchener, Capula’s Human Resources Manager at our head
Getting to know you... office in Stone: “It was Jade, in particular, who always took her cake-guarding duties very seriously.”
This issue: Steve Braund, Marketing Manager based in Stone What was the last film you saw?
What’s your biggest claim to fame?
Pamela Anderson was hard to ignore
got signed and have a record (‘Accepting
Best advice you’ve ever been given?
hint!). I’ve also worked as stage crew for
dance in your bones”. In other words, it’s
What has been the scariest thing to
What are you like at the dentists?
Where do you go to relax?
I was on a very turbulent flight from
throughout then I
being deafened by loud guitars.
was far from comfortable, and haven’t
Django Unchained – textbook Tarantino!
I used to be in a band called VERT – we
I used to have a lodger who was barely
Denial’) still available in the shops (hint
What are your pets called?
house-trained, but no pets otherwise. What was the last band you saw live?
An Australian band called Karnivool –
they were outstanding.
I’m at my happiest when I’m at a gig What reading material do you go for when you get a few minutes?
po sitiv en ergy is p ublis hed by Capula Nuclear. If yo u have any sto ries or information you feel should be inclu ded in a futu re issu e of po sitiv en ergy, or h av e any comments to make ab out the newsletter, th en co ntact: Steve Brau nd (01785) 827106 steve.braun d@capula.co.uk
Marketing Week or The Marketer. That or the pizza delivery menu!
What’s the first thing you would do if you were Prime Minister?
Lower fuel prices and increase the
amount of spending in arts & culture.
several high profile bands around the UK. happen to you in your life?
Atlanta to Florida a few years ago that been the best flyer ever since. Are you a good dancer?
I’d like to say I’m bang average, but even
while growing up in the mid-nineties.
“It isn’t a sin to take off your skin and
ok to be yourself.
Put it this way – if I could grit my teeth would!
Next issue
Joanne Litt
that would be an overstatement.
What do you miss most about being a kid?
Playing Treasure Island Dizzy on my ZX Spectrum +2.
What was your favourite TV show as a child?
Either Knightmare, The Mysterious Cities of Gold or Transformers.
VERT
Who was your celebrity crush when you were younger?
Steve Braund
Capula Nuclear • Beacon House • Stone Business Park • Stone • Staffordshire • ST15 0NN • T: 01785 827000 • W: www.capulanuclear.co.uk