Caithness Map :: Links to Site Map Great value Unlimited Broadband from an award winning provider  

 

Good News As Caithness Firm Gets Contract At Dounreay

26th October 2005

A £2.5 million contract has been awarded to M M Miller (Wick) Ltd to construct the containment building needed to safely remove the last of the radioactive breeder elements from the Dounreay Fast Reactor.

The contract has been let by ALSTEC Ltd on behalf of an alliance of companies working with UKAEA on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to remove the breeder from the sphere.

David Hubbard, ALSTEC's Construction Project Manager, said: "We are very pleased to award this contract to M M Miller. We have worked successfully together in the past and greater integration into and support of the local Caithness community is a long-term objective of our organisation."

The construction phase of the containment building, which is to be connected to the famous Dounreay sphere, is expected to take eighteen months to complete. The building will house essential process equipment and will require approximately 180 tonnes of steelwork and 2,100m2 of outer wall cladding, with inner walls of both blockwork and reinforced concrete. The overall dimensions of the building are 30m by 44m with a roof apex height of 13m.

Kevin Minnock, M M Miller's Contract Manager, said: "We are delighted to obtain this contract and to be in a position to make this a truly local team effort, with the support of several Caithness based companies including Arch Henderson, Budge Formwork, G&A Barnie, Caithness Scaffolding, Johnson Controls and JGC Engineering & Technical Services Limited, as well as Isleburn Structural Services, based in Invergordon."


Enabling works commenced in February 2005 and completion was achieved ahead of schedule. Work has also been completed for the demolition of substructures to a depth of three metres below existing ground level, which required the excavation and removal of 12,000 tonnes of concrete, subsoil and rock. Work to construct a three metre high pre-cast retaining wall and the installation of 400m³ of blinding concrete is also complete, plus the formation of a new access road and the installation of utility infrastructure.

Peter Poulton, UKAEA Senior Project Manager, said: "This is a key phase of the challenging decommissioning work required at DFR and a crucial step towards the safe removal of the breeder, due to commence in 2008. Working in unison with our local contractors helps sustain a consistent and skilled project team which is essential for the safe delivery of major projects such as this."

The five companies in the DFR breeder alliance with UKAEA are Strachan & Henshaw (mechanical engineering), Framatome ANP (retrieval and tooling equipment), SGN (process plant) Atkins Nuclear (safety and environment) and Alstec (plant operations).

 

Related Businesses

 

Related Articles

29/3/2022
Scottish Quarterly Housing Statistics, March 2022Thumbnail for article : Scottish Quarterly Housing Statistics, March 2022
There were 18,974 all-sector new build homes completed in Scotland in the year to end June 2021, according to quarterly statistics on housebuilding and affordable housing supply published today by Scotland's Chief Statistician.  This is an increase of 10% (1,751 homes) on the 17,223 completions in the previous year, in which activity levels were impacted by Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown measures.  
Design Contract Awarded For Dounreay Shaft And Silo WorkThumbnail for article : Design Contract Awarded For Dounreay Shaft And Silo Work
Dounreay has awarded an important waste clean-up contract to Jacobs as the site plans for the future of its deepest historic radioactive waste store.   Jacobs and its supporting partners have been awarded a 6-year contract to provide a design management team to produce a fully integrated design for the shaft and silo project.  
Radiation dose to public from Dounreay reducesThumbnail for article : Radiation dose to public from Dounreay reduces
Dounreay’s radioactive impact on the environment continues to fall, according to a report.  The annual survey report “Radioactivity in Food and the Environment” (RIFE 2012) has recently been published and it can be read here - http://www.sepa.org.uk/radioactive_substances/publications/rife_reports.aspx The report uses data obtained from samples of air, fresh water, grass, soil, and locally sourced meat, fish, milk and vegetables during 2012.  
57,000 Tonnes Of Hazardous Materials Finally Dealt With At Dounreay
Dounreay today completed the destruction of one of the most hazardous legacies of Britain's earliest atomic research.  A purpose-built chemical plant processed the last of 57,000 litres of liquid metal lifted from the primary cooling circuit of the experimental fast breeder reactor.  
Dounreay Dome Paint Job ScrappedThumbnail for article : Dounreay Dome Paint Job Scrapped
Bosses at Dounreay agreed that they won't now be spending £500,000 on a repaint of the sphere.   They money saved will go instead towards actual decommissioning work.  
Clean-up Reveals 6000 Years Of Human HistoryThumbnail for article : Clean-up Reveals 6000 Years Of Human History
Getting rid of Britain's 20th century experiment with fast breeder nuclear reactors is illuminating the history of human settlement on Scotland's north coast stretching back 6000 years.   Archaeologists hired as part of the closure of the nuclear site at Dounreay have pieced together the legacy left by previous generations who occupied the site as long ago as 4000BC.  
New Report Lists Radioactive Wastes At DounreayThumbnail for article : New Report Lists Radioactive Wastes At Dounreay
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has published the latest edition of the UK's radioactive waste inventory.   This sets out the type and volumes of radioactive waste at sites such as Dounreay, as of April 1, 2010.  
Nuclear Shutdown Cash Boost For School Skills
Cash from the closure of the fast reactor site at Dounreay is set to breed a new generation of engineers and scientists in the Scottish Highlands.   The money from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority will fund half the cost of a £50,000 project to increase the number of school-leavers skilled in science, technology, engineering and maths.  
New Vaults Signal Start Of Waste ClearanceThumbnail for article : New Vaults Signal Start Of Waste Clearance
The clearance of tens of thousands of tonnes of radioactive waste from the redundant nuclear site at Dounreay today moved a step closer.   Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd announced the formal award of a contract to develop a disposal site for low-level waste from the decommissioning and closure of the site.  
Ex UKAEA Boss Appointed To Crown Estates Board
THE CROWN ESTATE REAPPOINTS CHRIS BARTRAM, AND APPOINTS DIPESH SHAH OBE AND ANTHONY WHITE AS NON-EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBERS The Crown Estate has announced yesterday, 22 December 2010, the re-appointment of Chris Bartram and the appointment of Dipesh Shah and Anthony White as Non-Executive Board Members.   Chris Bartram, who has held the appointment as Crown Estate Board Member for four years has been reappointed for a further four year term with effect from 1 January 2011.