The joint venture between Babcock and US firm Fluor was chosen by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). The 14 year contract covers twelve nuclear power sites, including Hinkley, Sizewell and Dungeness, and is estimated to be worth as much as £7 billion.

NDA chief executive John Clarke said the joint venture was chosen for its "successful track record and extensive nuclear experience".

Virtual Reality (VR)

The MeerKAT RTA system will eventually form part of the larger SKA Phase 1 array, located in South Africa's Karoo region. The array is a technically advanced radio telescope designed to locate radio frequency signals coming from the furthest reaches of space, and hopefully look at the first stars and galaxies that were formed after the Big Bang.

Three productivity apps, Word, Excel and Powerpoint, are the first to become available, each optimised for touch-based controls. In a matter of hours after the launch, Word had become the most downloaded application for iPads in Apple's app store, with Excel and Powerpoint apps ranked third and fourth respectively.

The decision to use the money to purchase a mix of 30 planes from Airbus and 40 from Boeing, a record order for Japan’s biggest airline, comes as the company anticipates a rise in the demand for air travel when Tokyo hosts the Olympic Games in 2020.

Oculus VR is the Californian company behind the Oculus Rift, an immersive, google-like headset designed for video gaming. The device was developed through $2.4 million sourced by the crowdfunding website Kickstarter and subsequent investment of $75 million. Despite not yet being released there are 75,000 orders already in place for the development kits.

The incredibly reaction to Oculus Rift has already had ripple effects throughout the world of technology, with Sony being the latest company to announce the development of a rival product.

Ed Macha always felt there was a better way. Fascinated since childhood by the possibilities of automation, he learned the industry inside and out, knowing one day he would be the one to transform it. Beginning at the age of 15, he spent his summers sweeping electrical room floors and troubleshooting pull cords on conveyor belts at a mine site in Mexico.

Having been in production since late 2005, it took less than five years for Goldcorp’s Marlin Mine to produce its one-millionth ounce of gold. Located in the western highlands of Guatemala, 300 kilometres northwest of Guatemala City in the municipality of San Miguel Ixtahuacan, in an area boasting elevations ranging from 1,800 to 2,300 metres above sea level, Marlin has operated as both an open pit and underground mine, and continues to generate significant cash flow.

Founded in 1954, EXSA Peru is today part of Breca, the leading economic group in Peru, and is the country’s leading provider of rock fragmentation solutions to the mining and construction industries, with more than a 50 percent market share. The company’s market leadership is reflected in both its recent sales growth and its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).