Cumbrian schoolchildren given ex-nuclear power PCs

Sellafield Ltd donates 500 machines to schools after ‘a quick clean down’

Credit: PA

Schoolchildren across West Cumbria are being given hundreds of computers that were formally used to run a nuclear power station.

Sellafield Ltd, the government-owned company charged with running the Cumbrian nuclear reprocessing facility and undertaking site clean-up, has donated almost 500 desktops and laptops to local schools. It intends to make more similar donations shortly.

Ian Skipper, head of integration support services and transition for Sellafield’s Information Services Organisation, said the devices could no longer be used by the nuclear plant following recent hardware and software updates – including an organisation-wide upgrade to Windows 10. But they remain suitable for use in an education setting, he added.


Related content


“After a quick clean down, memory replacement and new blank hard drives inserted they were packed up ready for new academic homes rather than being packed up for landfill,” Skipper said.

The process of repurposing the PCs was run by Sellafield Ltd, alongside commercial partners Atos and Allvotec.

Dean School in Workington is one of the schools to receive machines.

“This equipment has made a massive difference to the way that lessons can be delivered,” said Claire Kirkpatrick, chair of the school’s local governing body. Previously we only had a very small number of laptops, all of which were extremely old, that had to be shared between a large number of children across the school. This was never ideal but especially in the current climate. However, thanks to Sellafield Ltd’s kind donation, every pupil in a whole class can now have access to a laptop.”

 

Sam Trendall

Learn More →

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Processing...
Thank you! Your subscription has been confirmed. You'll hear from us soon.
Subscribe to our newsletter
ErrorHere