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Materials scientists and engineers from six UK universities are joining forces to forecast the life expectancy of nuclear power reactors. Researchers from the University of Leeds have teamed up with colleagues from the Universities of Manchester, Nottingham, Salford, Sussex and Huddersfield to examine how daily radiation exposure gradually damages the graphite blocks that sustain nuclear chain reactions.

The accompanying picture shows Argyll-Ruane’s Director David Betts at the presentation of Robin Dawson’s 25-year service award – the first in the company’s history! The fact that it is the first is perhaps not surprising when you realise that Robin joined Argyll-Ruane in late 1985, only months after the company was formed.

Argyll-Ruane is launching a wide variety of new courses/examination services for technicians/engineers in 2011, including Ultrasonic Level 1/2 ‘TOFD’ programmes, Isotope Retrieval, Full Radiography and Eddy Current (Welds).

A demonstration day for the ultrasonic inspection of austenitic dissimilar welds was held on the 25th of January 2011 in Pride Park Stadium, Derby. The event was organised by Peak NDT of Derby and was designed to frame the DISSIMILAR project.

TWI has successfully completed a collaborative project – SubCTest – to develop novel NDT procedures and equipment for deployment from remote operating vehicles (ROVs) on subsea offshore structures and pipelines.

The ability of NDT to inspect an object without affecting its operating performance provides an excellent balance between quality control and cost-effectiveness. The NDT equipment market is well researched, with products and technologies well defined. As a result, often the contribution of the inspection services market and personnel gets overlooked.

Job opportunities across the country rose sharply in January, up 9 Index points compared to December, according to the report from Britain’s largest recruitment website, reed.co.uk. Employer demand rebounded from pre-Christmas lows to give a Reed Job Index reading of 113, the highest since the Index began.

Established in 1985 and with an already proven track record in offshore inspection, Axiom NDT Ltd has announced the launch of Axiom Offshore Services.

The ‘Phoenix’ computed tomography (CT) line of GE Measurement & Control Solutions has significantly enhanced its marketing capabilities by entering into a commercial co-operation with Hexagon Metrology, one of the world’s largest metrology groups. The collaboration will see the first computed tomography system introduced into Hexagon Metrology’s key industry segments within the next few months.

Since the acquisition of Innov-X Systems by Olympus last year, the Innov-X XRF products have continued to be sold in the UK and Ireland through its dedicated distributor, Element 3 Limited. However, to further enhance the growth of this important area and provide an even greater level of customer focus and satisfaction for the domestic market, Olympus is, with effect from 1 April 2011, bringing together its X-ray fluorescence (XRF), non-destructive testing (NDT) and remote visual inspection (RVI) businesses under one dedicated direct sales division – Olympus Industrial.