Heather Phillips Email & Phone Number

Imperial College Reactor Centre, Silwood Park Campus

I am currently responsible for nuclear decommissioning operations and compliance with site license conditions, safety, security, safeguards and environmental regulations for the CONSORT Research Reactor at the Imperial College Reactor Centre. I am involved in the development of strategic plans and business cases for decommissioning and managing the change from an operational to decommissioning site and have been closely involved in the development of the decommissioning safety case. I manage a team of eight operational staff currently carrying out post operational clean out (POCO) of the reactor site and preparing for decommissioning.I am a Site Emergency Controller and RADSAFE/NAIR Responder and I am a Director on and chair of the RADSAFE Board. I lecture on Imperial College’s Nuclear Technology MSc on the Nuclear Safety Module. The CONSORT Reactor was defuelled in July 2015. During the Reactor Defueling Programme, I supported development of the defuel equipment and safety case and provided operational management for reactor defueling, including defuel equipment installation and commissioning, management of contractors, staff training and competency and defuel operations. Through my involvement in the defuel and decommissioning programmes I have gained experience in project management and supervising contractors carrying large construction projects on site.Up until reactor shutdown in December 2012, I managed reactor operations and the isotope production and radioactive materials transport service for customers.

Imperial College Reactor Centre, Silwood Park Campus

The role of Safety Manager involved liaison with regulators ONR (Safety, CNS, Safeguards) and the Environment Agency, and included overseeing production of safety justifications and Safety Case work and the management and supervision of contractors, including production and assessment of safe systems of work. I represented the college on a number of external committees (RADSAFE Working Group, Nuclear Emergency Arrangements Forum (NEAF) and Safety Directors Forum (SDF) subgroups (Safety Case and Peer Review). Internally, I was a member of and reported to the Nuclear Safety Committee and chaired the Emergency Planning Committee.I increased my operational duties and experience, by training and being appointed as a Reactor Supervisor and the Deputy Reactor Manager.In my Emergency planning role, I maintained and developed the Site Emergency Arrangements which covered response to safety, security and RAM transport incidents and liaised with the emergency services and local authority. I wrote and directed safety, security and road transport emergency exercises.

Imperial College Reactor Centre, Silwood Park Campus

My role as Safety Officer involved a mixture of nuclear and conventional safety responsibilities on a nuclear licensed site. This involved liaison with external organisations (emergency services, regulators), college safety personnel and committees. Responsibilities included development of safety documentation and emergency arrangements to ensure best practice and regulatory compliance. I also trained and was appointed as a Reactor Operator for the CONSORT Reactor.

B418, Harwell Nuclear Licensed Site, Oxfordshire

A continuation of my role in AEA Tecnology EBIS, following sale of AEA Technology EBIS to EBIS Iotron Ltd. See description for AEA Tecnology EBIS.

B418, Harwell Nuclear Licensed Site, Oxfordshire

My work at AEA Technology EBIS was based around the operation of two electron linear accelerators, one used for the sterilisation of medical devices and the irradiation of semiconductors and the other for mineral irradiation. As facility physicist I was responsible for the physics aspects of plant development, maintenance and fault finding. I worked alongside the faculty mechanical and electrical engineers as part of the team responsible for the operation of the accelerators and associated plant.I was the Authority to Operate (ATO) Holder for the accelerators which operated on the Harwell Nuclear Licensed Site. I was responsible for ensuring that the accelerators and associated plant were operated within the scope of their operational safety cases. I was a radiation protection supervisor and have experience in radiation monitoring, controlling work sessions in active areas and disposal of low-level radioactive waste. I authored safety procedures and risk assessments and supervised contractors through safe systems of work (permits) and organising local emergency exercises. I worked to the quality assurance requirements associated with sterilisation of medical devices, which required accurate dose measurement with dosimetry and calorimetry techniques. Together with a colleague at AEA Technology I performed DTI feasibility study on the provision of a new accelerator for the National Physical Laboratory. This involved consulting with NPL staff and customers (and accelerator manufacturers) to produce a specification for the new accelerator.

Oxford Research Unit, Boards Hill, Oxfordshire

Research Fellow Working on EPSRC project entitled ‘Computer Control of Plasma Deposition Processes’.Whilst at the Open University I worked on a project to control plasma deposition processes using Artificial Intelligence techniques. I designed and built a control system for the plasma deposition unit, including its associated measuring instruments. This involved developing electronics and writing the control software for this system. I used the plasma system to deposit layers of diamond-like carbon on nickel substrates as a test case to evaluate various control techniques, including neural networks, multivariable control using fuzzy logic and automatic parameter space searching methods.

Radiation Centre, School Of Physics And Space Research

Research Fellow in Applied Physics; commercial co-ordinator for the Radiation CentreImmediately following my PhD I was employed at the University of Birmingham as the Commercial Co-ordinator of the Radiation Centre, liaising with a number of industrial clients who used the Dynamitron commercial services. I carried out these experiments and analysed data using a variety of ion beam analysis techniques.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Phd), Effects Of The Plasma Constituents On The Surface Composition Of Nitrided Titanium

My postgraduate research centred on the surface engineering of titanium by glow discharge plasma nitriding and elemental analysis.

B.Sc. Honours In Physics With Astrophysics, Physics And Astrophysics, 2:2

Activities and Societies: Sailing Club (Ladies Captain) Mountaineering Club (Stoats) Live Roleplaying Society Science Fiction Society