UCL Australia

UCL Australia is an international campus of the University College London, located on Victoria Square in Adelaide, South Australia. It has three parts: the School of Energy and Resources (SERAus), the International Energy Policy Institute (IEPI) and a branch of UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory.[1] In January 2015, UCL Australia announced that its campus would close within three years[2] but agreed to support currently enrolled students through their degrees and courses. A $10 million agreement with the Government of South Australia and Santos expires in 2017.[2]

UCL Australia describes its university community as "welcoming, dynamic and influential."[3]

Industry partnerships

UCL Australia has key corporate partnerships with two major resource and energy companies operating in South Australia: Santos and BHP Billiton. Santos' South Australian interests include onshore and offshore oil and gas developments while BHP Billiton's interest is concentrated on the expansion of the Olympic Dam mine- the world's largest known deposit of uranium.

Research

In 2012, research undertaken at UCL Australia included efforts to address problems in water processing for coal seam gas (coal bed methane), design evaporative cooling systems for buildings using sea water and develop integrated energy systems for sustainable wine production.[1]

As of 2015, UCL Australia's research is focused on the following areas:[4]

School of Energy & Resources (SERAus)

Santos Ltd. logo
Santos Ltd. logo

The UCL School of Energy and Resources was established in partnership with the Government of South Australia and oil and gas company, Santos Limited. It was established in 2009, with its first full academic year commencing in 2010. Its objective was to develop management capability to help the resources and energy sector meet the challenges of energy security, affordability and regulation, sustainability, environmental impact and climate change.[5]

Research

In 2015, current research projects undertaken at the School of Energy and Resources include:[6]

Scholarships

The School of Energy & Resources has offered generous incentives for student enrollment, initially awarding 10 Santos scholarships to students wishing to undertake a Masters of Science in Energy and Resources. The scholarships covered full tuition fees and provided each recipient an additional $25,000 annual stipend.[7]

International Energy Policy Institute

The International Energy Policy Institute (IEPI) is housed on the Adelaide campus of University College London, Australia. In 2011, UCL signed a five-year $10 million partnership with BHP Billiton to establish the International Energy Policy Institute in Adelaide and an Institute for Sustainable Resources in London.[8] The Institute was created to address challenges of complexity and sensitivity in the energy policy field through intensive research. Stefaan Simons was appointed the inaugural BHP Billiton Chair of Energy Policy. His directorship of the Institute commenced on 1 September 2012.[9]

The Institute was seeded by donations from oil and gas company Santos and the resource multi-national BHP Billiton.

Research

Research at IEPI is focused on upstream (exploration and production) issues, acknowledging the Asia Pacific region's influence on global Coal, nuclear and gas markets, and its growing uptake in renewable energy. The Institute complements and contrasts the downstream (consumer) focus of the UCL Energy Institute which is based in London.

Research undertaken at IEPI follows four themes:

  1. adding value to energy resources
  2. fossil, nuclear and renewable energy futures
  3. community engagement
  4. climate strategies[10]

As of 2015, current projects at the IEPI include:

Staff

Notable staff of the IEPI include Emeritus Professor Anthony "Tony" Owen, Visiting Professor Timothy "Tim" Stone CBE (non-executive director of Horizon Nuclear Power) and Honorary Reader James "Jim" Voss (former managing director of Pangea Resources).

Nuclear industrial development

Alexander Downer (2014)
Alexander Downer (2014)

In 2011, former Federal minister Alexander Downer addressed UCL students to discuss the nuclear industry. Prior to his presentation he told the media of his support for the establishment of a nuclear waste dump in South Australia, and described a possible future scenario in which a nuclear power plant could power a seawater desalination plant in order to provide water for BHP Billiton's Olympic Dam mine.[12]

In 2012, Stefaan Simons was appointed the inaugural Director of the International Energy Policy Institute, and the BHP Billiton Chair of Energy Policy. Simons has acknowledged that asking "whether Australia could, and should, develop a nuclear power service industry based on uranium enrichment and fuel rod manufacture for the global market" is a key theme of the Institute's work.[13] In a 2013 article entitled Is it time for nuclear energy for Australia? Simons proposed that goals of securing energy supply, maintaining economic growth and mitigating impacts of climate change could all be advanced by including nuclear in a "low-emission energy mix" for Australia. On UCL's role in the process he wrote:

"University College London’s International Energy Policy Institute (IEPI), based at its Australia campus in Adelaide, undertakes economic, regulatory and policy research on how Australia could develop a nuclear energy industry and manage its externalities, including decommissioning and waste."[14]
Martin Ferguson (2012)
Martin Ferguson (2012)

In late 2013, UCL staff and students contributed to conference papers investigating the subject of nuclear submarine development in Australia. Papers entitled What would it take for Australia to develop a nuclear-powered submarine capability? and From subs to Mines: What would it take for Australia to develop a nuclear-powered submarine capability? were presented in Brisbane, Australia and at the AIChE Annual Meeting in San Francisco, USA respectively. The subject was further explored in 2014 with the presentation of a conference paper entitled Selecting Nuclear-Powered Submarines in Australia: Nuclear Waste Consideration at a Waste Management conference (WM2014) in Phoenix, Arizona.[15]

In 2014, former Federal resources and energy minister Martin Ferguson was appointed as chairman of the UCL Australia board.[16] Ferguson is an advocate for nuclear power in Australia. UCL Australia's Chief Executive David Travers said of Ferguson's appointment:

"UCL doesn’t want to be large in Australia, but we do want to be influential and welcome Martin to the team to help us achieve these goals.”[17]

Also in 2014, James "Jim" Voss, a senior nuclear engineer and Fellow of the UK Nuclear Institute was appointed Honorary Reader at UCL Australia's International Energy Policy Institute. He had previously served in the Executive Office of the President of the United States under two Presidents and advised senior government officials in other countries.[18] He is also a former Managing Director of Pangea Resources, the proponent of a proposal to establish a nuclear waste dump in Australia in the late 1990s.

Research conducted at UCL in 2014 included several studies investigating the prospect of expanding nuclear industrial activity in Australia and South Australia. These included work by staff Dr Michel Berthelemy and Dr Tim Stone on Nuclear fuel cycle strategies and work by UCL students investigating nuclear fuel leasing opportunities. Student research subjects included The legal merits of an Australian Nuclear Fuel Leasing scheme by Owen Sharpe, and The World’s first integrated nuclear fuel leasing in South Australia? A proposed business model and its economic appraisal by Iwan Setiyono Ko.[19]

In March 2014, briefings on nuclear fuel leasing were given by UCL staff to Parsons Brinkerhoff, Deloitte and Babcock. In May a further briefing on the subject was given by Martin Ferguson at a confidential event.[20]

On 4 December 2014, Stefaan Simons and Tim Stone presented a conference paper entitled The international management of spent nuclear fuel at the Nuclear Industries Association Annual Meeting in London, United Kingdom.[15]

In April 2015, Visiting Professor Dr Timothy Stone was appointed to the Expert Advisory Committee of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission, an inquiry initiated at the request the Government of South Australia.[21]

External links

References

  1. 1 2 Fraga, Eric (2012-10-01). "Prof Fraga and the new UCL Australia University" (PDF). Centre for Process Systems Engineering newsletter (7). Retrieved 2015-02-15.
  2. 1 2 Booth, Meredith (2015-02-02). "University College London pullout ‘no surprise’". The Australian. Retrieved 2015-02-15.
  3. ↑ "Careers at UCL Australia". UCL Australia. University College London. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
  4. ↑ "Research at UCL Australia". UCL Australia. University College London. Retrieved 2015-02-15.
  5. ↑ "UCL School Of Energy And Resources, Australia". MasterStudies.com. Retrieved 2015-02-15.
  6. ↑ "Research - UCL School of Energy and Resources". UCL Australia. University College London. Retrieved 2015-02-15.
  7. ↑ "University College London in Adelaide — School of Energy and Resources" (PDF). MESA Journal (54). 2009-09-01. Retrieved 2015-02-15.
  8. ↑ Hare, Julie; Edwards, Verity (2015-01-31). "Adelaide loses University College London branch". The Australian. Retrieved 2015-02-15.
  9. ↑ Simons, Stefaan (2013-02-27). "Going low carbon – the approach of the International Energy Policy Institute" (PDF). UCL Australia. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
  10. ↑ "About UCL". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
  11. ↑ "International Energy Policy Institute". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
  12. ↑ Edwards, Verity (2011-04-08). "Downer flips on nuclear waste". The Australian. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
  13. ↑ Simons, Stefaan. "Stefaan Simons". The Conversation. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
  14. ↑ Simons, Stefaan (2013-07-25). "Is it time for nuclear energy for Australia?". The Conversation. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
  15. 1 2 UCL Australia Annual Report 2014. University College London. 2015. pp. 46, 47.
  16. ↑ "Former Resources Minister Martin Ferguson joins UCL". UCL Australia. University College London. 2014-03-18. Retrieved 2015-02-15.
  17. ↑ England, Cameron (2014-03-18). "Former Labor resources minister Martin Ferguson to join UCL board". The Advertiser. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
  18. ↑ "Mr James Voss". UCL Australia. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
  19. ↑ UCL Australia Annual Report 2014. University College London. 2015. pp. 10, 34.
  20. ↑ UCL Australia Annual Report 2014. University College London. 2015. p. 40.
  21. ↑ Evans, Simon (2015-04-17). "SA sets out agenda for nuclear industry inquiry; expert mix appointed". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 2015-05-15.

34°55′41″S 138°36′04″E / 34.928089°S 138.601159°E / -34.928089; 138.601159Coordinates: 34°55′41″S 138°36′04″E / 34.928089°S 138.601159°E / -34.928089; 138.601159

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