Students rise to nuclear challenge

STUDENTS from Warrington’s Priestley College have been working with a company that has the largest concentration of nuclear expertise in Europe.
Five students – all 16 or 17-years-old and on the National Engineering Scheme at Priestley – worked on a challenge set by Sellafield Ltd investigating how best to decommission highly radioactive storage tanks.
Mark Vesey, project engineer at Sellafield, met the students at the end of the challenge and praised their commitment.
“They maintained their enthusiasm throughout the project and have shown great ability,” he said.
Matthew Davies of Appleton, Ryan Roberts of Orford, Emma Darby of Northwich,
Chaniece Truelove of Warrington and George Davidson, from Woolston, began investigating the Sellafield task six months ago.
The project was designed to challenge the students and put their knowledge to the test in a real-life scenario. After researching different methods for decommissioning they had to report their findings to top engineers at Sellafield.
Mr Vesey said: “We hope these kinds of projects help develop the future generation with a view that one day we might be employing these people.
“I hope they carry on working hard and continue to think outside the box.”
Priestley Physics and Electronics tutor Adrian Birchenough, who helped oversee the project, said: “Sellafield provided our students with a great opportunity and they worked really hard over six months to ensure they completed the work to the highest of standards.”
Pictured: Tutor Adrian Birchenough with some of the students who took part.