Institution news
Jonathan will contributing his expertise at this year's Nuclear Lifting seminar in November, for the full agenda and to register please visit the event website.
Could you briefly explain your role, involvement, and experience related to the focus of this event?
Jonathan Bates (JB): In my role as a Mechanical Responsible Engineer at Sellafield Ltd I lead a team of Mechanical Design Engineers to deliver engineered solutions to retrieve nuclear waste and decommission some of the highest hazard nuclear facilities in the world. I have experience in delivering a variety of Mechanical Handling and Lifting solutions to support decommissioning of these facilities including new equipment, recoveries from major breakdowns and improvements to existing assets.
What, in your experience, has been the biggest roadblock for the industry over the past 2-3 years?
JB: Cranes are typically critical and complex assets for any nuclear facility with breakdowns resulting in plant downtime. As design engineers we have huge influence on the definition of the operational performance of a system and we need to better understand how critical an asset is to a facility and develop maintenance strategies that are commensurate with the importance of that asset.
What key topics are you excited to discuss at this year's conference?
JB: I am looking forward to discussing with the wider industry how we can make better use of the latest asset management thinking to improve performance of our lifting equipment and lifting operations to increase plant throughput and reduce breakdowns requiring reactive support.
What do you consider to be the key areas of innovation in this industry, both in the UK and internationally?
JB: Outside of asset management and predictive maintenance, I consider some of the latest motor following technology which can be used as a protection system for key crane faults to be an exciting area of innovation for the industry.
Who else are you most interested in hearing from on the programme?
JB: I am looking forward to all the presentations. I am particularly looking forward to some of the views and latest thinking from the Office of Nuclear Regulation as the regulator for the industry.
Why is it important for engineers to join this conference?
JB: Even though we all have unique challenges on the projects and assets we work on its important we share our experiences and exploit opportunities to improve. Networking will be a key aspect to the conference.
The Nuclear Lifting 2024 seminar will take place on 19 November 2024 at ETC Venues Manchester
Taking place for the 10th time in 2024 and the only event of its kind, this is a key forum for those conducting high risk lifting to discover engineering solutions to the technical and environmental challenges.
New presentations will share best practice and lessons learned from projects across the industry, with input from SSE, Office for Nuclear Regulation, Sellafield, EDF Nuclear Services, Babcock, Jacobs SME Nuclear Remote Handling, The National Nuclear Lifting Forum and more.
For the full agenda and to register to join the discussions at this year's seminar, please visit the event website.