THE annual Science Show was held in Whitehaven town centre this week. 

On Wednesday, June 12, school children gathered to enjoy exhibitions and a comedic science show in St Nicholas' Gardens. 

Sellafield worked alongside Whitehaven Town Council to educate children and members of the public about science and engineering, with the hope that they will inspire young people to pursue careers in these fields. 

The stars of the show were the robotic 'dogs' which have become icons of the West Cumbrian industry. 

Mayor Graham Roberts with a robot dog Mayor Graham Roberts with a robot dog (Image: Whitehaven Town Council)

Chris Ballard, senior technical leader at Sellafield, said: "This Science Show is to allow children to see the benefits of science, technology, innovation, chemistry and physics. 

"It's to allow them to have a taste of the kind of things that we do and give them a steer towards the future. 

"We lose a lot of skills from West Cumbria, people go to university and don't often come back. 

"This is to show them what they can do and what's available in West Cumbria for children of this age."

The exhibition tents The exhibition tents (Image: Whitehaven Town Council)

Gill Dunn, the AI research lead, said: "I think it's important to encourage children to show an interest in science and engineering. 

"It's at that early age where you need to start showing them what the benefits of using all these technologies at Sellafield are and what we're about now. 

"It's to show them that it is interesting at Sellafield and to keep that knowledge within Cumbria, that's our key target of being at this event."

A humanoid robot A humanoid robot (Image: Newsquest)

A Town Council spokesperson added: "It's going really well, it's nice to hear the kids screaming and shouting because that's what it's all about. 

"Our intention is two-fold, we want to keep doing these events to keep giving people a reason to visit the town centre.

"But working with our long-term colleagues at Sellafield who gave us incredible support for the 19 years that the Maritime Festivals were on. So this is part of our way of saying thank you to them. 

A student shows off 3D printed models A student shows off 3D printed models (Image: Newsquest)

"We're introducing kids to science at an age when you need to capture them. To hear their reaction and see them go around the marquees is inspiring."