Funding for voluntary sector infrastructure: a case study analysis

This paper outlines the policy context for grant-making to voluntary sector infrastructure organisations, and describes a qualitative research programme undertaken in the UK in which a detailed study of 20 such grants were investigated from multiple perspectives in terms of their perceived impact after the projects had finished. The grants were selected on tightly determined stratification criteria, from a large pool of grants for voluntary sector infrastructure work made by the Community Fund (one of the distributors of funds to “good causes” from the UK National Lottery). Particular emphasis was placed in the study on assessing the impact on other voluntary and community organisations likely to benefit from the support given to infrastructure organisations. The paper concludes that in general terms, grant-making for voluntary sector infrastructure is an effective way of supporting the voluntary and community sector more generally, although there are important lessons both for funders and for grant-recipients to improve the effectiveness of grant-making in this field

Mandatory public benefit reporting as a basis for charity accountability: findings from England & Wales

Charitable status is inherently linked in many jurisdictions with the requirement that an entity must be established for public benefit. But, until recently the public benefit principle had relatively little impact on the operations of most established charities. However, in England and Wales, reforms linked to the Charities Act 2006 led to a new requirement for public benefit reporting in the trustees’ annual report (TAR) of every registered charity. This new narrative reporting requirement had the potential to affect the understanding of accountability by charities. The paper investigates the impact of that requirement through a study of over 1400 sets of charity reports and account

Phenomenological modelling of molten salt reactors with coupled point nuclear reactor kinetics and thermal hydraulic feedback models

The Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) was a small circulating fuel reactor operated at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) between 1965 and 1969. To do date it remains the only molten salt reactor (MSR) that has been operated for extended periods, on diverse nuclear fuels. Reactor physics in MSRs differs from conventional solid-fuelled reactors due to the circulation of hot fuel and delayed neutron precursors (DNPs) in the primary circuit. This alters the steady state and time-dependent behaviours of the system. A coupled point kinetic-thermal hydraulic feedback model of an MSRE-like system was constructed in order to investigate the effect of uncertainties in the values of key physical parameters on the model’s response to step and ramp reactivity insertions. This information was used to determine the parameters that affected the steady state condition and transient behaviours. The model was also used to investigate features identified in the frequency response, in particular a feature corresponding to fuel recirculation. Greater than expected mixing in the primary circuit has been previously proposed as an explanation for the lack of observation of this feature. A velocity-dependent turbulent dispersion term is proposed to increase dispersion of the fuel temperature field in order to suppress the recirculation feature in the frequency response. An additional semi-analytical model was constructed as a part verification of the mixing hypothesis - this model was also used to examine the stability of an MSRE-like design. Finally the validated coupled system model was used to establish the just-safe combination of intrinsic source and ramp rate that does not exceed an estimated maximum permissible vessel temperature. The CALLISTO-SPK stochastic point kinetics code is used to demonstrate that the intrinsic source in an MSRE-like design is sufficient to reduce the probability of a rogue startup transient to an acceptably small value from the point of view of regulatory safety analysis. Such analyses may be used to support the case for extrinsic source deletion in future MSR designs.Open Acces

Riding the Waves of Change

Subtitle: Developing Managerial Competencies for a Turbulent WorldIn developing managerial competencies it s not enough to "look in the rear view mirror", project past trends, and just do what's worked in the past. It's crucial to look ahead, and position for the future. In today's world competence rests in our attitudes, values and mindsets, not just in technical skills. Riding the Waves of Change, first published in 1988, still resonates today. New preface 2009

The Effectiveness of Input on Voiced and Unvoiced Consonant Sounds in a Native Arabic Speaking Context: An Action Research Project

The paper describes the process and outcomes of an action research project with the aim of determining whether focusing classroom input on voiced and unvoiced consonant sounds has a positive effect on their production. Statistics were derived from English-speaking respondents listening to native Arabic speaking participants from an experimental group, who had received input on the difference between these sounds, and practiced their production, as well as to speakers from a control group who had received neither input nor practice. The rates of intelligibility were compared, with the conclusion being that the provision of limited input on this pronunciation issue does not, generally speaking, result in the ability to produce the sounds with greater clarity