Oxford Technologies Provides Complementary Capabilities, a European Base of Operations and Entryway into New Markets

IRVINE, Calif. & ABINGDON, England--Kurion, Inc., an innovator in protecting people and the environment from nuclear and hazardous materials, announced the acquisition of Oxford Technologies, Ltd., recognized experts in robotic and remote handling systems in the UK.

The transaction expands Kurions existing Robotic Systems & Services team, which has delivered and designed over 180 systems for projects around the world, including the technology used to investigate a damaged reactor at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. Kurion also designed systems to deliver safe access to hazardous material and environments at multiple sites worldwide, including Hanford in the U.S. and Sellafield in the UK.

"Oxford Technologies is the perfect complement to Kurions robotics team," said Kurion CEO William Gallo. "Oxford Technologies suite of technologies, client base and team of more than 60 highly skilled engineers and project managers will augment the Kurion team and provide an established base of operations for our continued expansion in Europe. The synergy of the two companies will accelerate Kurions growth."

Oxford Technologies specializes in full life-cycle remote handling systems, complex plant assembly, and radiation-hardened systems. The companys respected clients put its remote systems to work at the most-challenging decommissioning sites worldwide, including Sellafield and Dounreay in the UK. Oxford Technologies also delivers remote handling systems for the operation and maintenance of fusion reactors, including ITER, the high-profile international nuclear fusion project in the south of France. The company recently won the prestigious Ministers Award from the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) for Oxfords work at Dounreay; the award recognizes the value, flexibility and innovation that small and medium sized enterprises bring to the NDAs mission.

"Kurion shares Oxford Technologies mission to take on the toughest remote handling problems and develop technical solutions to support safe decommissioning and energy innovation," said Dr. Alan Rolfe, co-founder and managing director of Oxford Technologies. "By joining Kurion, Oxford Technologies will access new markets and more quickly realize the firms potential."

Dr. Rolfe will retire following the acquisition but will remain available as a consultant to the company. Prior to founding Oxford Technologies in 2000, Dr. Rolfe managed the remote handling team at the JET Joint Undertaking for more than 20 years.

As a result of the acquisition, Matthew Cole, director of Kurions Robotic Systems & Services business unit, relocates to the UK to oversee the companys global remote systems operations. Additionally, Bernhard Haist, formerly the engineering director is now director for Oxford Technologies team in the UK, reporting to Cole.

Cole commented, "The Oxford Technologies team is an incredible group of robotic and remote systems experts with a philosophy and vision similar to Kurions own. This combination represents the strongest robotic and remote systems services team anywhere in the world."

This acquisition follows the recent announcement from Kurion and the UK National Nuclear Laboratory that they had completed cold commissioning of the GeoMelt® In-Container Vitrification system that is headed for the Sellafield Central Laboratory. This year Kurion was recognized by BritWeek and the UK Trade & Investment Business Association for technology innovation.

ABOUT KURION
Kurion creates technology solutions to access, separate and stabilize nuclear and hazardous materials and to isolate them safely from the environment for a cleaner future. Kurions suite of technologies and engineering capabilities offer a platform to address the needs of the most-challenging nuclear and hazardous sites worldwide. Founded in 2008, Kurion operates eight facilities across California, Washington, Colorado, Idaho, and Texas and has subsidiaries in Warrington, UK, and Tokyo, Japan. For more information, please visit www.kurion.com.

ABOUT OXFORD TECHNOLOGIES
Oxford Technologies, founded in 2000, and currently employing over 50 highly skilled technical staff, is a world-leading developer of Remote Handling systems for hostile environments, including Nuclear Decommissioning, Nuclear Fusion, Space and High-Energy Physics. The companys offices and dedicated Assembly, Integration and Test facility are located in Abingdon, Oxfordshire UK.

Oxford Technologies provides customers with a wide range of engineering capabilities, including vision and image processing, human-machine interface technologies, virtual and augmented reality, with mechanical, mechatronic, electronic and electrical engineering. The company can offer services at all levels of project involvement, from feasibility assessments and short-term peer reviews, up to and including the supply and installation of fully operational Remote Handling facilities. For more information please visit www.oxfordtechnologies.co.uk.