Electronics firm hails £2.5m nuclear research contract
A Co Antrim electronics firm has won a £2.5m contract to supply a world-renowned nuclear research project, it was announced today.
Leaf Technologies is set to expand its Mallusk operation to provide electronic modules to the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, part of the CERN (Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire) scheme in Geneva.
Announcing the first contract of its kind awarded to a Northern Ireland company, Stormont enterprise minister Reg Empey hailed it as a huge breakthrough for the North.
He said: ‘‘Leaf’s success is proof that CERN business is not the preserve of large multi-national enterprises.’’
Funded by 20 countries, CERN undertakes leading-edge studies in the peaceful application of nuclear technology.
Its scientists were responsible for developing the World Wide Web for Internet communications.
Leaf, a family-run company employing 200 people, will develop sophisticated circuit boards for the high precision controls of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
It is planned to use this for a research project that in the past has discovered alpha and beta rays now used in medical imaging.
Fred Sloan, Chief Executive of Leaf Technologies, said securing the order in the face of competition from 22 other firms across Europe should spell more jobs for the area.
He added: ‘‘The CERN contract is the most significant in a series of new orders that we have won in recent months and will result in significant employment opportunities here at Mallusk.’’
