Dounreay Bulletin - Issue 9

23rd August 2006

FIRST STEPS TO SHAFT DECOMMISSIONING NEAR COMPLETION.
The first stage in the shaft isolation project is nearing completion with the finishing touches being put to the raised working platform. The raised working platform is being built on the foreshore to create a safe and stable working area at a similar level to and surrounding the shaft, from where boreholes can be drilled and the isolation grout barrier installed. The platform was constructed using 10,500m3 of concrete held within 1,700m3 of fibre reinforced structural concrete, supplied by local contractor J. Gunn & Sons. The construction of the platform commenced in late March and is due to be completed on schedule. See: www.ukaea.org.uk/sites/dounreay_project_updates.htm#Aug0601

DOUNREAY TRIALS ARE CATALYST FOR UK'S FIRST PURPOSE-BUILT TEST CENTRE
UKAEA has welcomed the arrival of Britain's first purpose-built nuclear decommissioning test centre. The T3UK complex, incorporating a research institute of the UHI Millennium Institute, aims to become the country's leading site for trialling the techniques and equipment needed to safely dismantle Britain's nuclear legacy, as well as undertaking test work for the offshore and environmental sectors. It is a spin-off from work originally commissioned by UKAEA to prove a safe method of cleaning out liquid metal from the cooling circuits of the Prototype Fast Reactor at Dounreay. See: www.ukaea.org.uk/news/2006/10_08_06.html

DOUNREAY LEADS THE WAY IN PRACTICAL DECOMMISSIONING TRAINING
UKAEA Dounreay is reinforcing the nuclear decommissioning NVQ training given to its engineering apprentices with a further module of high-quality practical skills training. The apprentices will gain valuable practical experience in a simulated nuclear facility which recreates the type of plant that the apprentices will eventually decommission, minus the radiological hazard. The package is designed to satisfy a large part of the training requirements of the S/NVQ Nuclear Decommissioning Level 2 qualification, which Dounreay has been involved in since its introduction. More: www.ukaea.org.uk/news/2006/10_08_06_2.html

BEACH TESTS CONFIRM PERFORMANCE OF CURRENT MONITORING SYSTEM
The Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment carried out field trials on Sandside beach earlier this year to test the performance of the previous and current equipment used to detect radioactive particles. The results now published show that the current Groundhog Evolution system meets and exceeds the detection criteria laid down previously by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, while its predecessor, Groundhog Mark 1, did not meet all requirements all of the time. Further improvements to the system will allow even better detection of caesium137 and cobalt 60 particles. See: www.ukaea.org.uk/sites/dounreay_part_beach_monitoring.html

SANDSIDE MEDIATION PROCESS ENDS
UKAEA announced with regret on August 18 that the mediation process which it began with Geoffrey Minter in May 2005 had ended. "We wanted to ensure that we could find a fair, reasonable and documentable resolution to this issue. Unfortunately, despite every effort, it has not been possible to achieve this." See: www.ukaea.org.uk/news/2006/18_08_06.html

DPAG REPORT DELAYED
The publication of the third report of Dounreay Particle Advisory Group (DPAG) has been delayed due to the possibility of prejudicing legal proceedings. See: www.sepa.org.uk/news/releases/view.asp?id=423&y=2006

SCOTTISH SITES SHARE BEST PRACTICE ON DECOMMISSIONING END STATES
Representatives from UKAEA and the Dounreay Stakeholder Group attended a meeting in Edinburgh on site end states with the Scottish Executive and representatives from Chapelcross and Hunterston. The purpose of the meeting was to share best practice between the three decommissioning sites and to keep stakeholders informed of the progress being made. At Dounreay, UKAEA is managing the technical work and consultation process, on behalf of the stakeholder group, to identify the acceptable condition of the site once decommissioning is complete.

DTI SELECT COMMITTEE PUBLISHES REPORT ON NDA AND UKAEA
The Commons Select Committee on Trade and Industry has published the report of its inquiry into the work of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and the UK Atomic Energy Authority. See: www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmtrdind/1028/102802

UKAEA welcomed the committee's recognition of fusion's great potential towards meeting future global energy demands. See: www.ukaea.org.uk/news/2006/16_08_06.html

NDA CONSULTS ON DRAFT ANNUAL PLAN
The NDA has launched a three month consultation on its draft Annual Plan 2007/8. This is the third plan produced since the organisation was established in April 2005. The document sets out how the NDA intends on spending its £2.5 billion budget during the next financial year. For Dounreay, the document confirms that the main focus of the site will be the continuing removal of the major hazards, notably the alkali metals in the fast reactors and design for a new intermediate-level waste treatment plant. The cost of next years programme at Dounreay is put at £134.6 million. See: www.nda.gov.uk/Our_Business_Annual_Plan_2007_8_Draft_for_Consultation

NDA PUBLISHES REVIEW OF 2005/6
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority published its operational review for 2005/6 on August 9th. The review confirmed that the NDA had deducted £2 million in fee from BNG and UKAEA as a consequence of failings that led to incidents at Sellafield and Dounreay. The Dounreay incident was the spillage in the waste cementation plant at Dounreay in September 2005. UKAEA has introduced major safety and assurance initiatives and organisational changes which have addressed the issues that contributed to this incident, and has successfully carried out remedial work on the plant which is expected to re-open this autumn. UKAEA has the opportunity to recover the lost fee this year if it delivers a series of improvements under discussion with the NDA. See: www.nda.gov.uk/News--News_(1780).aspx?pg=1780

DOUNREAY STAKEHOLDER GROUP MEETS
The socio-economic and the operations sub-groups of the Dounreay Stakeholder Group met on 16 August. UKAEA's report to the group can be found at: www.ukaea.org.uk/downloads/dounreay/DSG_report_August_2006.pdf

COMPANY CHANGES HANDS
RWE NUKEM Limited, which employs over 230 people at Dounreay on a range of services in support of decommissioning, has been formally re-registered as NUKEM Limited following the sale of RWE Solutions to Advent International. See: www.nukem.co.uk

DONATIONS FROM DOUNREAY EMPLOYEES
Dounreay's Employees Charity Fund, which is funded through monthly subscriptions from workers, has made donations to two local organisations. Caithness Tora-Kai Karate Club received £200 towards running costs. The club based in Wick has been running for over 22 years for adult, youth and child members. The Hogmanay in Thurso committee received a cheque for £300 towards this year's street party.

PFR ACHIEVEMENTS RECOGNISED AT THE INNOVATION AWARDS 2006
Half of this year's six awards for innovation have gone to the PFR team. The PFR decommissioning team are the overall winner of the UKAEA Innovation Awards 2006 for their pipe piercing project. The PFR team also won the Business Benefits award for the development of a camera and pump assembly which will be used to remove the heel pool of sodium from the base of the Reactor Vessel. Finally, the Safety and Environment award went to the Alkali Metal Residue Removal team at PFR.

AT A GLANCE
Number of days since a lost time accident - 62 days
(No. of man-hours since a lost time accident - 854,732 hours)

Liquid metal destroyed in decommissioning Prototype Fast Reactor

Volume: 1,136 tonnes
Percentage complete: 75 %

NB Plant currently shut down while major reactor components are jacked up out of their seal.

Research reactor reprocessing liquor conditioned as solid intermediate-level waste

Total no. of drums to date: 1,879
Percentage complete to date: 37.6%
Conditioned in current financial year: 0

NB Plant currently shut down while spillage is cleaned up.

Solid Low Level Waste processed for disposal
Total so far this financial year: 2,167 drums

Processed drums of Eutectic NaK at DFR
Total no. of drums to date 4

Employment levels
June
July
UKAEA - Full Time Equivalents
1,160
1,136
Sub-contractors - number of personal passes
1,206
1,185
Sub-contractors - number of gate-held passes
179
184