Other Public Services News
30/11/2021
Radioactive And Nuclear Substances And Waste - Update Geological Disposal: Scrutiny Of Rwm's Work
Environment Agency and Office for Nuclear Regulation report on their scrutiny of Radioactive Waste Management's (RWM) work to develop geological disposal. Updated 29 November 2021 - Change made: Added ‘Scrutiny of RWM's work on geological disposal - annual report 2020 to 2021'.
11/11/2021
Dounreay Collaborates With University To Inspire A Culture Of Innovation
DSRL, the University of the Highlands and Islands and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) have collaborated to develop an innovation workshop for some of Dounreay's future talent. Dounreay was a former nuclear research centre for 50 years, and now wishes to trial innovative ideas as it decommissions, by challenging conventional methods and bringing in ideas from other industries.
8/11/2021
Pentland Tenants Vote Yes For Transfer To Cairn
Tenants of Pentland Housing Association have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a transfer to Cairn Housing Association. The transfer will deliver £6.3 million of investment in tenants' homes and the local community, alongside a locked in five-year affordable rent guarantee and continued local services delivered by a new combined team based in Thurso.5/11/2021
Nuclear Decommissioning Agency Mission Progress Report 2021
This is the latest iteration of the Mission Progress Report (MPR) which focuses on the key themes that form the milestones by which we will deliver our mission across our nuclear sites. In this report, our progress and goals have been aligned with those in our latest Strategy, published in March 2021, allowing for a more consistent approach to presenting our decommissioning mission.
28/10/2021
Dounreay Funds Phd For Legacy Particles Research
DSRL is funding research through the University of the Highlands and Islands for a critical PhD project to model the behaviour of legacy radioactive particles in the marine environment at Dounreay. An important part of the work to close down Dounreay is to address the legacy of the radioactive particles that wash up on the beaches next to the site.
2/10/2021
Raising The Roof At Dounreay's Newest Radioactive Waste Store
The first roof beams have been lifted into place at Dounreay's newest shielded radioactive waste store. Seventy six beams, weighing a total of 1,400 tonnes, the equivalent of 116 double decker buses, are needed to complete the mammoth roof structure which will have a total weight of 3,300 tonnes.
1/10/2021
Pentland Tenants Urged To Vote Yes To A Transfer To Cairn Housing Association As Formal Ballot Opens
The ballot for Pentland tenants to decide if they want to transfer to Cairn Housing Association has opened with participants able to easily vote by post, phone, text message or online. The transfer will only go ahead if a majority of tenants vote YES before the ballot closes on 2nd November.30/9/2021
Space Hub Sutherland Will Be A Launch Pad For Jobs And The Economy
A new report launched (Wednesday 29th September 2021), commissioned by Caithness Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the Caithness & North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership, demonstrates the economic benefits that Space Hub Sutherland will bring to the North Highland and Moray areas. Space Hub Sutherland - a new satellite launch site - will bring huge employment and tourism benefits to the Scottish Highlands.
28/9/2021
Caithness & North Sutherland Fund Latest Grants Supports New Facilities
The Caithness & North Sutherland Fund has recently awarded two grants that will help to create new facilities to enhance outdoor recreation and learning activities. Wick Golf Club has been granted £30,000 towards the costs of creating a new workshop and coaching facility at the Wick Golf Club grounds.
17/9/2021
Dounreay Safeguards Future Skills With New Intake Of Decommissioning Trainees
Six new decommissioning operative trainees have started work at Dounreay, as part of a structured programme to develop skills required to safely decommission the site. DSRL is collaborating with Nuvia, Morson and GDES who have all recruited trainees.
21/8/2021
Innovation Reaches Deep Into The Dounreay Workforce
Innovation in the face of adversity earned Scotland's largest nuclear site a shot at Scotland's top event award. About 100 or so workers normally attend Dounreay's annual showcase event, when staff are recognised for reaching levels of excellence in their work to decommission the plant.
5/8/2021
Jacobs Awarded Dounreay Decommissioning Contracts
Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) has awarded two contracts worth a combined GBP11.2 million (USD15.9 million) to USA-based engineering group Jacobs for decommissioning work at the Dounreay site in Scotland. Under the contracts, Jacobs will upgrade the ventilation system at the Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) and develop the decommissioning strategy for the fast reactor fuel reprocessing plant in the Fuel Cycle Area.
2/8/2021
Pentland seeking views on proposed transfer to Cairn ahead of ballot
Pentland Housing Association tenants are to be formally consulted on a proposed transfer to Cairn Housing Association, which will bring new investment to homes and a locked-in affordable rent guarantee, from a new combined Cairn and Pentland team in Caithness. Detailed information leaflets are being posted out and members of staff from Pentland and Cairn are aiming to personally visit every household to try and speak to residents and answer any questions they might have.25/6/2021
World's Deepest Nuclear Clean-up Underway At Dounreay
The shaft and silo project ‘advanced transition' work is getting underway at Dounreay. Radioactive waste was historically consigned to the 65 metre deep shaft and the silo, an underground waste storage vault, over several decades starting in the late 1950s.
7/6/2021
Volunteers Supporting Vaccination Roll-out
Thousands of hours contributed to national programme. Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has thanked volunteers who have now contributed more than 25,000 hours to help deliver the national vaccination programme.
4/6/2021
Airline Suit Work Restarts In Redundant Laboratories At Dounreay
Airline suit work has restarted at Dounreay after more than a year's delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Wearing an airline suit is cumbersome and the wearer needs to be dressed and undressed by a dedicated team of helpers who then provide support throughout the task.
4/6/2021
Caithness And North Sutherland Fund Looking For A New Director
CAITHNESS AND NORTH SUTHERLAND FUND DIRECTOR VACANCY (unremunerated) Deadline for applications: Monday 14th of June. The Caithness & North Sutherland Fund is a community fund established by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd to distribute a £4M funding package to community projects that will increase the attractiveness of Caithness & North Sutherland as a place to live, work and invest.
2/6/2021
Inequalities Exposed - Home-start Report Reveals Top Three Post-pandemic Concerns For Parents
Twice as many low income families (under £16,000 p.a.) are not optimistic about life after lockdown compared with those earning more (over £30,000 p.a.) 57% parents are concerned about their own wellbeing or mental health in the year ahead. 65 % of parents are particularly worried about their children's social development.
11/5/2021
Measuring The Unmeasurable: Research Paper Could Help Dounreay Clean Up Plutonium Legacy
Ground-breaking research published in Nature Communications shows that traces of plutonium in the environment can be identified as being from global or local sources. Using soil samples taken from Dounreay, an area near to the site and 2 areas at a distance from the site, the research showed that it was possible to identify whether minute traces of plutonium in the soil came from plutonium ‘bred' in a reactor or from global fallout.
19/3/2021
