Let there be light

摘要

Aflame burns brightly in one corner of the now sorry-looking former Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell in Oxfordshire. And while much of the surrounding sprawl of archetypal government laboratory buildings lies dormant, decaying or demolished, this 20,000K flame is a reminder of the white heat of enthusiasm for science and technology that consumed this former airfield in the 1950s and 1960s. For Accentus, a spin-off company from the now privatised AEA Technology, its nuclear research legacy of precision testing and plasma spray coating means its future is looking a lot brighter as it diversifies into other markets.