Published at 11:06, Thursday, 11 August 2011

A PIONEERING £20m nuclear research centre in Copeland – the first of its kind in Europe – will open in October.

The Dalton Cumbrian Facility (DCF) is being built at the Westlakes Science and Technology Park near Whitehaven.

The facility will offer the equipment and environment academics will need to carry out world-leading research in areas such as radiation science, nuclear engineering decommissioning and the management of radioactive waste.

Once it is fully operational, the DCF will house up to 50 people and will offer a base for national and international research.

The University of Manchester is currently advertising for candidates to fill the post of facility administrator at the new base.

Work on the centre began in January, and the steelwork of the laboratory and office building were in place by March.

The facility, which will rival centres in the US and Japan, is designed to expand the nuclear research and education capability of the UK’s university sector.

It is a joint venture between the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and the University of Manchester, and will have close links with the existing National Nuclear Laboratory at Sellafield.

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk