NDA Strategy and Technology Director Dr Adrian Simper was among the presenters discussing the knowledge exchange between the two countries, a relationship that dates back many years.

Adrian spoke about the long-standing nuclear relationship between the UK and Japan, dating from the 1960s when the country’s built its first reactor, Tokai Mura 1, which was based on the Magnox design. He also outlined the NDA’s commitment to working in partnership with local communities, and the sharing of decommissioning knowledge as Japan continues the clean-up at Fukushima Dai-ichi.

The latest UK-Japan collaboration will see a team of experts who have worked on Dounreay’s Prototype Fast Reactor travel to Japan to help with drafting a lifetime plan for dismantling a similar sodium-cooled fast reactor, Monju, at the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant in Fukui Prefecture.

As part of this programme, Monju researcher Kazuaki Matsui will spend a six-month placement at the PFR.

UK businesses were also exhibiting at the event, hosted by Dr Keith Franklin, Nuclear Counsellor, Department for International Trade at the British Embassy in Tokyo.

Adrian has been involved in the NDA’s dialogue with Japanese nuclear organisations for many years and has served as one of the international advisors for the group of experts advising on decommissioning the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, where UK technology companies are making a valuable contribution to the clean-up. Regular exchange visits between the UK and Japan have enabled the NDA, its subsidiary International Nuclear Services and the Department for International Trade to highlight the UK’s nuclear decommissioning expertise.

The Princess Royal has been visiting Japan for a number of engagements associated with the Rugby World Cup, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and other UK business events. Last year, she unveiled a commemorative plaque marking the official opening of the NDA’s £21 million archive facility, Nucleus (The Nuclear and Caithness Archives), in Wick.

Simon’s extensive corporate career makes him well suited to help deliver Ploughshare’s strategic objectives and drive the use of defence and security technologies into wider commercial use. He previously ran O2 Business, the business division of the mobile-network, and co-founded Wayra Europe, the business accelerator belonging to Telefonica. He is also a serial entrepreneur and is involved in several successful digital start-up companies. In addition, Simon has previously worked for the government in his role as Entrepreneur in Residence (EiR) at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and is currently the EiR at the National Physical Laboratory.

Commenting on his new appointment, Simon said:

I am very excited and proud to be joining Ploughshare Innovations to help scale-up the remarkable science and innovation being pioneered at Dstl from its work with the Ministry of Defence. I am passionate about the opportunity to drive mass adoption of new technology that enables people and the planet to flourish – the incredible progress that Dstl has made in diagnosing sepsis being just one notable example.

James Kirby, CEO of Ploughshare, remarking about the changes said:

The prospect of a new chair with different experiences and ideas will help bring about a new phase in Ploughshare’s journey, and I look forward to working with Simon to continue to grow the business. On behalf of my fellow board members, I would like to express our gratitude to Piers White, who has been an outstanding chair over the last 6 years.

Piers White, the outgoing Chairman, commented:

Working with Ploughshare has been a privilege and a highlight of my career. I have been fortunate enough to be part of a team that has delivered some transformational technologies to market. I wish Simon every success and look forward to seeing the next generation of fantastic innovations come to fruition.

Simon, who is also a Non-executive Director of the Student Loans Company, will formally start as Chairman on 21 November 2019.

Communities across the country can bid for a share of £500,000 funding to celebrate the outstanding contribution of the Windrush Generation and their descendants to the nation’s social, economic, political and religious life.

The annual Grant Scheme will open today (17 October 2019) as communities around the country celebrate Black History Month. The fund will provide up to £25,000 to local councils, charities and community groups seeking to host events for Windrush Day 2020.

The grant scheme supported 50 groups across the country celebrate the inaugural national Windrush Day earlier this year with events including educational workshops, cricket matches, street parties and historical exhibitions.

Communities Secretary,  Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said:

The first national Windrush Day earlier this year saw communities across the country celebrate and honour the lasting impact of the Windrush Generation and their descendants.

Today we are opening applications for funding for Windrush Day 2020 to ensure that we continue to commemorate a seminal moment in Britain’s history for generations to come.

 Windrush Day 2020 promises to be bigger, better and bolder. Applications open today and I encourage communities around the country to get involved.

Communities Minister Lord Younger said:

After the huge success of the first national Windrush Day, I am delighted to confirm that applications for funding for Windrush Day 2020 are now open.

It is vitally important to keep telling the stories of the courageous Windrush pioneers and their descendants, who have helped to shape our shared history and heritage. We are committed to supporting communities to celebrate their legacy, be it through workshops or music, exhibitions, tournaments or more.

I encourage communities from across the country to get involved and I look forward to seeing creative and inspiring proposals.

Dr Joe Aldred, Churches Together in England, Windrush Day Advisory Panel Member said:

Following the amazing national service of thanksgiving in a packed Westminster Abbey on 22 June 2018, and the first official national Windrush Day on 22 June earlier this year, I am looking forward to an even greater Windrush Day 2020.  

It has been a pleasure to serve with colleagues on the Windrush Day Advisory Panel where I have seen first-hand the commitment of so many to ensuring the contributions of the Windrush Generation to the life of our country is properly recognised.

Giving honour to whom honour is due, is a sound biblical principle and Windrush Day is a significant way to do so by celebrating, commemorating and educating together, absorbing the historic and continuing warmth of Caribbean presence in Britain.

This year saw the first national Windrush Day take place, with activities and events taking place up and down the country. Through educational workshops, theatre performances and historical exhibitions communities honoured that landmark day over 70 years ago when the Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Docks.

The grant scheme is overseen by the Windrush Day Advisory Panel made up of community representatives.

The Advisory Panel will consider how best to celebrate Windrush Day each year. Made up of community representatives from locations around the country, the Panel provides advice directly to government. It will ensure that winning bids are appropriate and resonate with Caribbean communities.

Next month the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will be hosting workshops around the country to support groups during the grant application process. See further information.

To apply, download an application form and return the completed form to Windrushdaygrants@cuf.org.uk. Please include ‘Windrush Day Grant’ in the subject line.

We have a budget of up to £500,000 available to fund events across the country and groups can bid for a share of up to £25,000.

Bidders Day events will be taking place around the country next month in Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, London, Sheffield. Find out more at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/2020-windrush-day-grant.

• Temporary export bar placed on the painting in a bid to find a UK buyer
• Arts Minister said it is of “paramount importance” to keep Joseph Wright of Derby’s works in the UK

Arts Minister Helen Whately has placed an export bar on Joseph Wright of Derby’s ‘Two Boys with a Bladder’.

The work, completed between 1768 and 1770, is valued at £3,500,000 plus VAT and is at risk of being lost abroad unless a UK buyer can be found. 

Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 – 1797) was an English painter and one of the most important artists of the 18th century. He is best known for his paintings of candle-lit subjects and scientific and industrial subjects and was a frequent contributor to the exhibitions of the Society of Artists and the Royal Academy. His works are reflective of a period when the nature of childhood and education were being debated. 

Wright’s paintings demonstrate his masterful treatment of light effects and the work at risk of export features two boys blowing a bladder by candlelight – bladders were a common toy for children, either inflated like a balloon or filled with dried peas and shaken like a rattle. In art, bladders were often used to represent the fleeting nature of life and wealth to the fragility and transience of human life and wealth. 

In the context of this work, the fact that the subjects are children adds an element of innocence versus experience, while the luminosity of the candlelight may refer to the illumination of knowledge. Representations of children blowing bladders were unique to Wright’s work and, at present, there are no examples of his autograph bladder paintings in UK public collections. 

Arts Minister Helen Whately said: 

As one of the most important artists of the 18th century, it is of paramount importance that we keep the works of Joseph Wright of Derby in the UK. 

This painting offers us a chance to learn more about his way of working and I hope that a buyer can be found to save this masterpiece so it can be studied and put on public display.

The Minister’s decision follows the advice of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA). The committee noted that the work represented an early example of elements of European art making their way into British art. They also noted the sophistication and importance of Wright’s work. 

Committee Member Peter Barber said: 

A lively debate on education and the nature of childhood raged in Western Europe throughout the 1760s. Its ambiguities are exemplified in this striking and exquisitely executed painting of two boys playing, apparently innocently. 

In a painting now in Kenwood House London, which may have been intended a pendant, Wright depicted two girls playing. I do hope the opportunity is taken to keep the boys in Britain!

The painting may have entailed an innovative use of metallic leaf used beneath the bladder to enhance the lustre of the surface. This, an unusual and short-lived technique, was unique to Wright’s works, making this painting potentially the only work in the UK where this process has been observed. 

The RCEWA made its recommendation on the grounds of the paintings outstanding significance for the study of Joseph Wright of Derby and his working practice. 

The decision on the export licence applications for the painting will be deferred until 16 January 2020. This may be extended until 16 May 2020 if a serious intention to raise funds to purchase it is made at the recommended price of £3,500,000 plus VAT.

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. Organisations or individuals interested in purchasing the oil painting should contact the RCEWA on 0845 300 6200.
2. Details of the painting are as follows: Two Boys with a Bladder by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 – 1797), oil paint on canvas, 927 x 730 mm, probably 1768-70
3. Provenance: Possibly Brownlow Cecil, 9th Earl of Exeter (1725-1793); Possibly Christie’s, 24 January 1772, lot.82; Possibly George Greville, 2nd Earl of Warwick (1746-1816), acquired at the above sale; Acquired by a UK private collector by the mid-nineteenth century; And by descent to 2019
4. The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest is an independent body, serviced by The Arts Council, which advises the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on whether a cultural object, intended for export, is of national importance under specified criteria.
5. The Arts Council champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. It supports a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. www.artscouncil.org.uk.

The MHRA has issued an alert to healthcare professionals, as Teva UK Ltd is recalling all unexpired stock of certain batches of 2 types of Ranitidine medicines used to treat conditions such as heartburn and stomach ulcers.

The 2 products affected are Ranitidine Effervescent Tablets 150 micrograms and 300 micrograms. The list of batches affected can be checked on the MHRA’s drug alert.

Healthcare professionals have been told to stop supplying the two products immediately. All remaining stock should be quarantined and returned without delay to the supplier.

Patients should not stop taking their medication, and a treatment review is not necessary until the next routine appointment.

The recall is a precautionary measure due to possible contamination of the active substance in Zantac, ranitidine, with an impurity called NDMA (N-nitrosodimethylamine) which has been identified as a risk factor in the development of certain cancers.

The MHRA is actively involved with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and other medicines regulators to determine the impact of what is an ongoing, global issue. On 8 October, a drug alert was also issued regarding the withdrawal of four types of prescription-only Zantac products.

An investigation into other potentially impacted products is continuing and further updates will be provided as the investigation progresses. Other Ranitidine products have been quarantined, and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) issued an alert on 15 October regarding shortages of the medicine and advice to healthcare professionals on alternative treatments.

Dr Andrew Gray, MHRA Deputy Director of Inspections, Enforcement & Standards, comments:

“Whilst this action is precautionary, the MHRA takes patient safety very seriously.

“Patients should keep taking their current medicines but should speak to their doctor or pharmacist if they are concerned and should seek their doctor’s advice before stopping any prescribed medicines.

“We have asked companies to quarantine batches of potentially affected medicines whilst we investigate and we will take action as necessary, including product recalls where appropriate.

“We have also requested risk assessments from the relevant companies which will include the testing of potentially affected batches.

“Currently, there is no evidence that medicines containing nitrosamines have caused any harm to patients, but the Agency is closely monitoring the situation, and working with other Regulatory Agencies around the world.”

ENDS

Note to editors:

1. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is responsible for regulating all medicines and medical devices in the UK by ensuring they work and are acceptably safe. All our work is underpinned by robust and fact-based judgements to ensure that the benefits justify any risks.

2. MHRA is a centre of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency which also includes the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) and the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). MHRA is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care.