As reported by the BBC on November 19 2015, as part of a routine inspection at the Hunterston B power station in Ayrshire, cracks were discovered in the graphite bricks which make up the core of one of two nuclear reactors. Similar cracks were found in the other reactor at an inspection in 2014. Quintessa has provided support to the operator of these reactors, EDF Energy, to help demonstrate that it is safe to continue to generate electricity from these reactors.

At the inspection three graphite bricks of the larger type... Full Details

Sellafield have awarded Quintessa a place on its Enabling Innovation Frameworks (EIF). The new EIF builds on the very successful pilot EIF. It involves companies working as a single integrated team, to provide a unique range of services across different functions and operating units within Sellafield covering strategy, operations, decommissioning, waste management and commercial. The focus of the EIF is on the start of the project value curve, where small upfront investments and innovations can lead to better outcomes. This includes problem framing and definition, outlining innovative concepts and solutions, strategy development and options assessment. The EIF can also... Full Details

Uranium compounds are both chemically toxic and radioactive. Both of these properties have to be taken into account when managing exposures to uranium, both in the workplace, and the wider environment. Quintessa and Mike Thorne and Associates staff have published a paper in the Journal of Radiological Protection in which the most recent information available on the chemical toxicity and biokinetics of uranium is used to propose new standards for limiting intakes of the element and its compounds. The approach adopted allows coherent standards to be set for ingestion and inhalation of different chemical forms of the element by various age groups. It allows coherent... Full Details

Quintessa has become a COMSOL Certified Consultant reflecting the breadth and depth of our capabilities in the application of COMSOL Multiphysics® to model environmental and engineering systems.

A key aspect of Quintessa's work is state-of-the-art numerical analysis of complex coupled systems. Examples include Thermal-Hydraulic-Mechanical-Chemical (THMC) models of radioactive waste disposal facilities at all scales, detailed predictive and retrospective analysis of field and laboratory experiments, complex non-linear near-surface hydrogeological modelling and... Full Details

The Full Emplacement (FE) experiment is run by Nagra at the Mont Terri underground rock laboratory (URL) in Switzerland. The experiment tests techniques for the emplacement of waste containers and surrounding backfill, and allows the response of the backfill and the host rock to heat to be studied. Emplacement of the containers and backfill was completed and the heating elements within the containers were turned on in December 2014.

The FE experiment is designed to represent the Swiss concept for disposal of spent fuel and vitrified high-level waste at true scale. A 50 m long tunnel... Full Details

Richard Little has been appointed as the Managing Director of Quintessa. Richard has more than 25 years nuclear consultancy experience and has provided support to organisations in over 20 countries and to international organisations including the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Energy Agency. Richard has been a Director of Quintessa since 2005 and Operations Director since 2012, and will combine these responsibilities with his new role as Managing Director.

David Hodgkinson, who has been Managing Director since the company was formed in 1999, has become part-time Chairman of Quintessa and will also... Full Details