£30 million ITER contract

RNS Number : 7973V

Oxford Instruments PLC

16 July 2009

 



Release Date:  16th July 2009  

Oxford Instruments selected for £30 million ITER contract

Oxford Instruments, the world's leading supplier of superconducting materials, has been selected to supply 58 tonnes of superconducting wire to ITER at a value in excess of £30million. ITER is a joint international research and development project seeking alternative energy through fusion power and is one of the largest scientific projects ever undertaken. This order, which is subject to contract, has been agreed by 'Fusion for Energy', the European procurement agency for ITER based in Barcelona.

The first deliveries will be towards the end of the current financial year and the effect on this year's trading is expected to be modest. Deliveries will be phased over the next three years. The wire will be supplied by Oxford Superconducting Technology, USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Oxford Instruments.

Opportunities exist for further supplies of superconducting wire to other procurement agencies of the ITER programme.

Oxford Instruments has been named as one of the 30 British companies on the FTSE Environmental Opportunities Index, and its tools are being used for the development of alternative energy, research into climate change and environmental pollution.

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Additional Notes:

The European Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy or 'Fusion for Energy' is an organisation established in 2007 with the main objective of providing Europe's contribution to ITER.  The facility is being built in Cadarache, France, a research center for nuclear energy created in 1959 by the Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique.

Nuclear fusion taps energy from reactions like those that heat the Sun, using fuel sources that are abundantly available, and accessible to all nations. Fusion is seen as a cleaner approach to power production than nuclear fission and fossil fuels. The ITER device will make extensive use of niobium-tin superconducting magnets to contain the fusion reaction. More than 500 tonnes of niobium-tin superconducting strand will be used in the construction of the ITER magnets, of which 95 tonnes are expected to be sourced in the EU.  

Enquiries:

Oxford Instruments plc	Tel: [phone]
Jonathan Flint     Chief Executive
Kevin Boyd    Group Finance Director
Hogarth Partnership	Tel: [phone]
Rachel Hirst
Andrew Jaques

Notes to Editors

Oxford Instruments designs, supplies and supports high-technology tools, processes and solutions with a focus on physical science, life science, environmental and industrial research and applications. It provides solutions needed to advance fundamental nanoscience research and its transfer into commercial nanotechnology applications. Innovation has been the driving force behind Oxford Instruments' growth and success for 50 years, and its strategy is to effect the successful commercialisation of these ideas by bringing them to market in a timely and customer-focused fashion. 

The first technology business to be spun out from Oxford University fifty years ago, Oxford Instruments is now a global company with over 1,300 staff worldwide and a listing on the London Stock Exchange (OXIG). Its objective is to be the leading provider of new generation tools and systems for the industry and research sectors.

This involves the combination of core technologies in areas such as low temperature and high magnetic field environments, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, X-ray electron and optical based metrology, and advanced growth, deposition and etching. Our products, expertise, and ideas address global issues such as energy, environment, terrorism and health and are part of the next generation of telecommunications, energy products, environmental measures, security devices, drug discovery and medical advances.

 

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