15th January 2025 - Alan Neal

The Ambulance Down in the Valley –
Nuclear Accidents and Contingency Planning

In the nuclear industry, safety is of paramount importance and very detailed procedures and regulations are in place to ensure the safety of any nuclear plant.

However, over the decades there have been a small number of serious nuclear accidents, in particular: Windscale in 1957, Three Mile Island in 1979, Chernobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011.

Alan’s talk will cover the causes and effects of these accidents. It will also cover what countermeasures can be taken to mitigate the effects of any accidents and how nuclear sites, whilst safety of the plant is always of foremost importance, will also have detailed contingency plans to deal with major accidents, no matter how unlikely they are to occur.

Alan Neal is a physicist who has 40 years’ experience of working in the nuclear industry, initially in radiation safety roles and then in nuclear site management roles.

In 1985 Alan moved to the UKAEA’s site at Winfrith where he remained for most of his career, becoming the Head of Site in 1998, after which he became responsible for the decommissioning of both the Harwell and Winfrith Nuclear Sites. He ended his career as Site Director of the Berkeley Nuclear Site.

19th February 2025 - Phil Holt

“Keep calm – I’m an Air Traffic Controller!”

To the casual observer, looking up on a summer's day, you see the white contrails and perhaps the inkling that there is a pattern to it. Who controls it? What are the systems and procedures? Phil was an Air Traffic Controller for over 30 years and says “I kept at it until I got it right!” He covers the history and development, then brings you up to date. This humorous yet factual presentation will fascinate you, so, standby for take-off!

Phil Holt joined the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) in 1972. He served at several units including Heathrow, London Centre, Edinburgh and his longest controller service at Manchester Airport. His final job was as an instructor at the College of Air Traffic Control at Hurn, Bournemouth, spanning a career of almost 40 years before retiring in 2011.

Phil has served as a Flying Display Director, been a member of Flying Control Committees, choreographed display programmes and served on Air Traffic Control teams. He worked for CAA/ NATS as an ATCA, ATCO, instructor and Examiner for almost 40 years. Planning, pilot qualifications, public safety and airspace requirements are just some of the topics covered.

16th April 2025 - Phil Judkins & John Hale

Early Radar in Dorset - Showing of Echoes of the Past

Worth Matravers is today a quiet village near Swanage but for two years in 1940-1942, when wartime Britain was in its greatest months of peril, Worth was Britain’s Silicon Valley, home to as many as 2,000 scientists and engineers working on one of World War II’s greatest secrets – RADAR.

In this hour long video, the late Dr Bill Penley, CB,CBE, one of Radar’s most distinguished engineers and a veteran of Worth Matravers, and Dr Phil Judkins, a Radar historian and Chairman of the Purbeck Radar Museum Trust, describe in non-technical language the secret work done at Worth, and take you to all the Purbeck Radar sites involved – St Aldhelm’s Head; Leeson House; Brandy Bay; Tilly Whim; Acton; Peveril Point, and many more.

This fascinating story brought to life by rare original pictures and exciting works of art, was filmed, edited and directed by John Hale (our S&T Group Leader) and first released on DVD but is currently available on Amazon Prime Video.

After the showing of the video Phil Judkins and John Hale will be available to answer your questions about Radar and the filming of Echoes of the Past respectively.

21st May 2025 - Hannah Bird

Cyber Awareness: Internet Scams & Phishing threats

The Dorset Police Cyber Crime Unit’s Hannah Bird will be giving a cyber security session to help you stay protected against the latest digital threats. The presentation will cover a range of critical topics, including:

• Current cyber threats
• Online, email, and telephone scams
• Password security and Two-Factor Authentication
• Online shopping fraud
• Social media safety

This event will equip you with top tips for staying safe online, as well as guidance on how to recognise and respond to potential threats. Whether it’s strengthening your digital defences or enhancing your cyber awareness, Hannah will help by sharing valuable information to help keep you safe online.

19th March 2025 - Geoff Kirby

The Science Of Putting A Golf Ball

When Geoff retired he took golf lessons to be able to join his wife on the links. However, he failed to see the point of knocking a ball into a hole with a stick, getting the ball out and knocking it into another hole. He recalled Mark Twain’s saying that “Golf is a good walk spoiled”.

However, as a scientist Geoff became fascinated by the curves taken by golf balls on putting greens so he set out to derive the equations of motion involved and test these both at home on his living room carpet and on real golf courses. This involved rolling golf balls down inclined ramps, measuring drag coefficients of balls on grass and generally annoying his wife with his obsession!

The outcome was an Excel program that predicts how to optimise the probability of holing a golf ball on any uneven putting surface. This resulted in a book which received praise from golfers (see cover, left) – one saying that his handicap had halved since using the advice given in Geoff’s book.

Geoff Kirby retired from the Ministry of Defence in 1992 as Head of the Royal Navy Oceanographic Research Programme and he has spent his long retirement attending many groups in Dorchester, Weymouth and Purbeck U3As as well as pursuing many other interests. He has given eleven talks to this Group ranging from applying Science to the choice of buying healthy well-fitting bras, through to optical illusions, the history of torpedo development and even a history of the toilet!