Dec 10 2015
Kurion, Inc., an innovator in protecting people and the environment from nuclear and hazardous materials, announced the acquisition of Oxford Technologies, Ltd., recognized experts in robotic and remote handling systems in the UK.
The transaction expands Kurion’s existing Robotic Systems & Services team, which has delivered and designed over 180 systems for projects around the world, including the technology used to investigate a damaged reactor at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. Kurion also designed systems to deliver safe access to hazardous material and environments at multiple sites worldwide, including Hanford in the U.S. and Sellafield in the UK.
“Oxford Technologies is the perfect complement to Kurion’s robotics team,” said Kurion CEO William Gallo. “Oxford Technologies’ suite of technologies, client base and team of more than 60 highly skilled engineers and project managers will augment the Kurion team and provide an established base of operations for our continued expansion in Europe. The synergy of the two companies will accelerate Kurion’s growth.”
Oxford Technologies specializes in full life-cycle remote handling systems, complex plant assembly, and radiation-hardened systems. The company’s respected clients put its remote systems to work at the most-challenging decommissioning sites worldwide, including Sellafield and Dounreay in the UK. Oxford Technologies also delivers remote handling systems for the operation and maintenance of fusion reactors, including ITER, the high-profile international nuclear fusion project in the south of France. The company recently won the prestigious Minister’s Award from the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) for Oxford’s work at Dounreay; the award recognizes the value, flexibility and innovation that small and medium sized enterprises bring to the NDA’s mission.
“Kurion shares Oxford Technologies’ mission to take on the toughest remote handling problems and develop technical solutions to support safe decommissioning and energy innovation,” said Dr. Alan Rolfe, co-founder and managing director of Oxford Technologies. “By joining Kurion, Oxford Technologies will access new markets and more quickly realize the firm’s potential.”
Dr. Rolfe will retire following the acquisition but will remain available as a consultant to the company. Prior to founding Oxford Technologies in 2000, Dr. Rolfe managed the remote handling team at the JET Joint Undertaking for more than 20 years.
As a result of the acquisition, Matthew Cole, director of Kurion’s Robotic Systems & Services business unit, relocates to the UK to oversee the company’s global remote systems operations. Additionally, Bernhard Haist, formerly the engineering director is now director for Oxford Technologies team in the UK, reporting to Cole.
Cole commented, “The Oxford Technologies team is an incredible group of robotic and remote systems experts with a philosophy and vision similar to Kurion’s own. This combination represents the strongest robotic and remote systems services team anywhere in the world.”
This acquisition follows the recent announcement from Kurion and the UK National Nuclear Laboratory that they had completed cold commissioning of the GeoMelt® In-Container Vitrification system that is headed for the Sellafield Central Laboratory. This year Kurion was recognized by BritWeek and the UK Trade & Investment Business Association for technology innovation.