A TEAM of five students from Warrington have enjoyed a successful collaboration with nuclear decommissioning company Sellafield Ltd.
The team from Priestley College was set a challenge to work out how to decommission silos containing low-level nuclear waste as part of a competition run by the Engineering Education Scheme.
College tutor Adrian Birchenough said: “This was such a valuable experience for the students as they were able to work on a real life scenario and work with professional scientists and engineers.
The Priestley team of five Year 12 students designed a mechanical arm that could be used to extract waste from the inside of the silos.
They were mentored by two Sellafield engineers and went on to build a model version of the arm to prove that it would work.
The students produced a written report on their work and finally at the Celebration and Assessment Day at Liverpool University produced a poster display to summarise their work and gave a presentation to a panel six professional engineers. The students demonstrated full understanding of their work and received particular praise for their problem solving.
Their project was also submitted to the British Science Association who honoured it with a CREST Gold Award.
Mr Birchenough said: “The students worked very hard and represented Priestley College well throughout the project.
“This is something we take part in every year and it is a challenge that proves very valuable to the students who take part.”
Pictured: Mike Wilcox, Amber Dumbill, James Brown, Fraser Bland, Connah Jones.
