Dodd Group has recently completed works to construct a new medical physics bunker at the University of Birmingham, which houses the UK's first High Flux Accelerator-Driven Neutron Facility. This only the second such facility in the world — the other located in Helsinki in Finland.

The new bunker is located at the university's Edgbaston Campus, on the site of the Physics East Building which forms part of The School of Physics and Astronomy.

The Building structure was built into an existing bank of land being excavated down eight metres from the high side, and four and a half metres from the lower side under guidance from geologists.

Dodd Group M&E engineers were engaged to design and build the M+E services to support and supply the requirements of the High-Flux Accelerator.

This involved working in collaboration with the University of Birmingham's estates teams, for integration with side wide systems and compliance with site specific requirements as well as critical design and delivery workshops with the manufacturers/suppliers of the High-Flux Accelerator.

Now complete, the bunker will house a High-Flux Accelerator, which will allow researchers at the university to better understand how neutrons interact with matter, helping to pave the way for how this research and technology can be applied in nuclear medicine and the study of space.

The High Flux Accelerator-Driven Neutron Facility forms part of the National Nuclear User Facility (NNUF), which is funded by the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

It will create a new hub for international research with applications extending to nuclear medicine and space, as well as enable a national training programme to boost the UK skills base in these state-of-the-art techniques.

Image: PBC Today 

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