Predicting a nuclear future

Posted on 25 Mar 2010 by The Manufacturer

Manufacturers have been urged to explore how their talents could be applied to the burgeoning nuclear industry by a firm who recently won a £250,000 contract to supply control panels for nuclear power stations.

Assembly Solutions Ltd (ASL) is celebrating the award of the contract to supply the control panels to radiation detection company Canberra – part of the Areva group – which will use them for leak detecting equipment within power stations.

ASL had diversified its perspective from being a specialist electrical cabling and wiring harnessing business to meet the growing demand from the nuclear industry.

Managing director Graham Balshaw said: “We are extremely excited that we were chosen by Canberra and feel this will be a great platform for venturing into the nuclear industry in the future.”

“I was thinking about this and I thought the nuclear industry is an area we should be involved in.

“When (Canberra) visited the factory and saw what we could do they asked us if we could assemble the whole control unit.”

Mr Balshaw pointed to the environmental necessity for a cleaner source of energy and electric car batteries as future driving forces behind demand for nuclear power.

He has set the family run company – which he started 15 years ago – a target of doubling its annual turnover of £1.4 million within two years and hopes to bring the figure to £10m within a decade by taking advantage of opportunities from the nuclear industry.

Pictured: Assembly Solutions Ltd (ASL) MD Graham Balshaw.

Matt Chilton