Trident dilemma: The UK signed a treaty committing itself to nuclear disarmament
Unwelcome echo of the cold war
It was useful to read your article on the proposed Trident-armed submarine update programme (“All at sea,” PE March).
I hope that much of this is already known by the membership but, from my experience, knowledge amongst the general public is scant. This, despite the alarming costs and the fact that governments of all complexions churn out the need for cost cutting and austerity measures to secure our future.
There was a legally binding requirement which the UK signed up to via the 1970 UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to move towards nuclear disarmament. This update programme is surely in violation of that position since the treaty means that the UK does not have any right to possess nuclear weapons, let alone improve/replace them; instead it has committed itself to disarm.
Those of us who recall the worry of the Cold War period and the advice given by government in propaganda, such as Protect and Survive, may have thought this over and done with and yet here we are again supposedly facing a new threat from our old adversary, albeit Russia rather than the Soviet Union.
Additional cause for worry centres around what the Chinese might do. My understanding is that China is proving to be a successful trading nation, a major UK customer, so why do we regard them as a nation to fear?
In aligning itself with the US via the existing and proposed Trident programme the UK government will continue to foster fear and anxiety, a cruel device used in various forms throughout the ages to maintain control over the population.
As people trained to consider the broader picture we engineers are in a good position to access the validity of the claims and challenge those claims when appropriate if we so wish, or we can bury our heads claiming that politics and engineering are mutually exclusive.
What work engineers do in support of such a programme is clearly a matter of individual conscience but I would strongly recommend evaluating the real-world scene and looking beyond the fear before taking the king’s shilling.
John Sharp, Bude, Cornwall
Flexible friends
I would encourage the women who wrote letters in the March issue of PE not to give up hope. My company, Rotork, does support flexible or part-time working for women and men with childcare (or other) needs.
In my team of six design engineers, two have recently switched to reduced hours to help look after their young children. When recruiting, I definitely do not rule out otherwise qualified applicants on the basis that they may wish to work part-time.
So, there are companies out there that don’t restrict the talent pool of those they employ by a dogged insistence on some kind of standard working week.
Steve Watkins, Leeds
Disaster area
Could someone please take me out of my misery and explain the advantages of privatising the electricity supply industry, for as far as I can see it was an unmitigated disaster?
Just before privatisation the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) published a booklet in which it stated that during its lifetime the cost of living rose by a factor of 55, the cost of fuel (coal) by 22 and the cost of electricity by 8. A truly enviable record! At the time Sizewell had just been completed which was intended to be the first of three or five such stations. This went by the board on privatisation. The CEGB was limited to burning British coal and was not allowed to use gas except for standby generation, and additionally all stations were built by British companies.
On privatisation the new companies turned to gas as the cheapest fuel. We thus squandered our North Sea gas, burning it at about 30% efficiency, rather than using it in our homes at 80% efficiency. Moreover, the switch to gas wrong-footed our power station manufacturers as they were set up to build coal-fired stations, thus much of the equipment was foreign manufactured.
We have also failed, thus far, to build a single nuclear station, let alone three.
In my opinion the foreign-owned electricity suppliers have not matched the price reductions obtained by the CEGB, but I have no solid data on this.
Although pure conjecture, the response to carbon reduction would have been very much better by the CEGB, with its very highly qualified research staff, than it has been with the political input with all the pressure groups.
E M Beaney, Shaldon, Devon
Combating congestion
Having returned from the Middle East and Far East with the impression that these nations are catching us up fast, I was delighted to return and read in PE about so many exciting developments in the UK.
One common factor round the world is road congestion, so driverless cars ought to have a global future. But vehicle spacing is already down to millimetres in some places – the human brain takes a lot of beating!
Or maybe we should return to Cabtrack, studied at RAE Farnborough in 1970. This consisted of small anywhere-to-anywhere cabs running on a network of segregated tracks, some of which would be elevated or incorporated into or alongside buildings, but lightweight, so not too expensive or obtrusive. Walk to a cab stop, input your destination and wait for a cab to arrive and take you there. A bit like a horizontal lift, I suppose.
I spent some time on the Queen Mary 2 ocean liner and the chief engineer kindly agreed to discuss my queries regarding the propulsion system. Two fuels have to be carried, for the diesel generators and the gas turbine generators, with the power fed to the four tiny (compared to the size of the 148,000-tonne QE2!) Rolls-Royce Mermaid pods, two of which are azimuthing so the ship doesn’t need a rudder. The electric motor in each pod can produce an amazing 28,000hp to drive the 6m-diameter propeller – sorry, ‘screw’, I’m aero not marine!
Slightly vulnerable in the event of grounding so they carry spare propeller blades on the foredeck. All very impressive.
Chris Longrigg, Guildford, Surrey
In the swim
The article on a surfer’s paradise described an interesting development of an idea from 1936 (“On the crest of a wave,” PE January).
Then Edinburgh Corporation opened the Portobello open-air swimming pool as a substitute for cooling towers for the electricity power station across the road. It was about six times the area of an Olympic pool so that it still was quite cool in spite of the heat input.
At the deep end there were four large wedges behind a grille. Brown Bros, a local firm making hydraulic rams to drive ships’ rudders, provided rams to actuate the wedges to create waves in the pool for some minutes in each hour. It was found that suitable waves needed only two wedges operating at less than full capability. After the war I had the opportunity to enjoy the experience.
The four rams proved useful during the war. By building a sandbag wall to protect the restaurant at the shallow end, the full capacity was used to create an experiment where soldiers in rubber dinghies were used as guinea pigs to evaluate sea sickness pills.
Alfred Reading, Surrey
Step on the gas
I was astonished by the number of Soundbites advocating banning diesel vehicles from cities (PE March).
About five years ago I visited New Delhi, and I noticed that a number of buses and other vehicles were labelled ‘CNG’. When I asked the meaning of this, I was told that all buses, taxis and government vehicles in the city were obliged to be fuelled by compressed natural gas. This was as a drive to reduce pollution.
It appears to work pretty well – CNG, LNG or LPG as alternative fuels for those vehicles is a pretty straightforward conversion, with zero particulates.
As someone who lives in semi-rural Aberdeenshire, the availability of the economy of diesel is actually quite important.
Michael Salter, Banchory, Aberdeen
Nuclear fall-out
I have been worried about the loss of skills in the nuclear industry for years (“All together now,” PE March). We do not seem to be learning from history and doing anything about skill loss.
I started my career in nuclear fusion at the Jet project in Oxfordshire before progressing through Hartlepool, Heysham and Torness power stations. I missed out on Sellafield whilst working on submarine reactors. Due to the downturn in the industry I switched focus to conventional power and given the lack of investment there eventually transferred to the oil and gas, North Sea sector.
I am either unlucky at picking declining industries or the lack of vision by those with the power to plan effectively for the future has been a constant motivation to move on and retrain in different industries. Whilst I am enjoying the different challenges each change brings, I cannot see the knowledge I have gained ever being used by those new to any of the sectors I have worked on in the past.
My daughter is thinking about a career in engineering but given my experiences has a real dilemma in choosing an industry with real long-term career development.
We have been talking about industry and government working toward a long-term plan for too long. With the election coming, which prospective government will actually do something?
Mike Stothard, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey
The greening of industry
It was good to learn that the institution is relaunching the chartered environmentalist (CEnv) designation (Institution News, PE February).
There is an urgent need to address at local and international level the ruinous problem of climate change and attendant matters.
Engineers can certainly make a significant contribution to creating a deeper awareness of the urgent need to devote the appropriate level of resources to save the planet from disaster. As the article relates, most engineers almost certainly as a matter of routine take the environment into consideration as part of their remit.
In reflecting on my experience in industry, further education and local government, I can certainly say the environment was always an important consideration. So, although I am plummeting towards my 90th birthday, my interest and enthusiasm for the promotion and implementation of creditable policies related to the environment remains undiminished.
The positive stance being struck by the institution regarding the environment made very pleasant reading for me. Three cheers for the CEnv
Bill Jordan,
Budleigh Salterton, Devon
Fracking forecast
I sympathise with those who feel that the debate on fracking is at least incomplete (News, PE March).
The scientific community advise that if we continue to burn fossil fuel at the projected rate until 2050, then the atmosphere will most likely pass through the 2ºC threshold, and result in irreparable climate damage.
Given that methane is about 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide, the obvious question which the frackers need to answer is: What fraction of the methane is harvested, and how much will be released to the atmosphere over the long term?
Until we can be confident that methane will not be released, we should exercise the precautionary principle.
John Jones, Gloucestershire
Identity crisis
Experience with financial organisations in the UK and Isle of Man has taught me that being a chartered engineer is not good enough for verifying a person’s identity.
Compliance offices will accept such people as policemen, ISA brokers, financial advisers and of course chartered accountants, but not engineers.
Could the leaders of our institutions make representation to the Financial Conduct Authority and other financial associations which represent assurance/insurance and finance companies to stop this discrimination.
B J Haworth, Swanage, Dorset
Exciting role
More young people should consider doing an apprenticeship. I have been an apprentice at Nylacast in Leicester since 2012 and can honestly say that joining the company is the best decision I have ever made. One of the big things that attracted me was the learning style. I learn on the job and earn money at the same time. The learning is hands-on which is good for me.
Sitting in a classroom studying a mountain of books is definitely not for everyone, but here I can see I am progressing quickly in my career.
Nylacast is a world leader in the development of engineering polymer components, which gives me the opportunity to complete a whole range of work, and I learn something new from each aspect of my training. It will all help me to progress into a high-skilled programmer.
I love my job, and not just because I like what I do but also because I have real prospects. There are great opportunities to progress and to reach managerial roles. This is not just a job, but a career, and that is exciting.
Jack Nurse, Leicester
Fire alarm
The tragic hotel fire in Dubai with the apparent vortex on the outside of the hotel prompts the question as to whether there are any parallels to be drawn with the London Underground King’s Cross escalator fire in 1987. It too had a vortex which caused unbelievably rapid progress of the fire up the escalator shaft.
Our past president Sir Bernard Crossland led the investigation into the mechanisms involved and used the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell. They discovered the fire progressed in a previously unknown manner. A whole range of fire prevention precaution measures were implemented.
With the increase in high-rise buildings across the world, is there a need to investigate the propagation of a fire in tall buildings as there again may be something about the mechanism we don’t understand?
Might UK engineers be able to offer helpful advice, based on Sir Bernard’s work?
Michael Fish, Watford
Stimulating reading
As a lapsed engineer now working in the financial services sector, I still try and keep in touch with the wonderful world of engineering and am reading through PE magazine to fill time.
I have to say that nearly every article has been interesting and thought provoking and, far from consigning this issue to the bin after I’ve read it, I plan to take it home and invite my son to have a read too.
He’s wrestling with whether or not to take engineering at university, and I am hoping this magazine may crystallise his thinking.
Top job – things have moved on such a long way since my day!
Stephanie Smith, Guildford, Surrey
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