Dounreay Bulletin - Issue 23

2nd April 2007

FIRST MINISTER'S MESSAGE FOR DOUNREAY STAFF
Scotland's First Minister is urging Dounreay workers to secure their own future by demonstrating they are the best in the business at decommissioning. Writing exclusively in the latest edition of Dounreay News, Jack McConnell says a workforce that can decommission safely the fast reactor experiment is a workforce that will be in demand.

His comments come after the Scottish Executive agreed to make available an extra £12 million for Highlands and Islands Enterprise to spend in Caithness and Sutherland over the next three years. The additional cash will help the area make the transition from its long-time economic dependency on Dounreay as decommissioning jobs decline.

"Caithness has a proud tradition of skills," says the First Minister. "Today, they are focussed on decommissioning. Doing that safely and efficiently today can give Caithness a strong competitive advantage tomorrow and create new demand for those skills when decommissioning declines. Success breeds success, and a workforce that can lay claim to safely decommissioning the fast reactor experiment will be an asset to Scotland as well as Caithness."

To read the whole article, see:
http://www.ukaea.org.uk/news/publications_dounreay_news.html

THURSO BASED STAFF MOVE TO SITE
Payroll staff from Brownhill Lodge and some finance staff from Naver have commenced their move onto the Dounreay site.

COMMUNITY GROUP REACHES A CONCLUSION ON SITE END STATE
Community representatives have completed their consultation on the condition that Dounreay should be left in once decommissioning is complete. Dounreay Stakeholder Group will now make a number of recommendations to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. The group has concluded there are three options that could be acceptable in different circumstances, with preference for a greater degree of clean-up than previously proposed in the Dounreay Site Restoration Plan. Decisions taken by the NDA about the end state will enable it to firm up the total liability for site decommissioning. See: http://www.dounreaystakeholdergroup.org/display.php?doc=274

STAKEHOLDER GROUP CHAIRMAN RE-ELECTED
Councillor Alastair Macdonald was re-elected chairman of Dounreay Stakeholder Group at its annual general meeting on March 14. Bob Earnshaw, of Thurso Community Council, was returned as vice-chairman.

Meanwhile, reports submitted to the March meeting of the group by UKAEA, SEPA, NII and HIE can be found at http://www.dounreaystakeholdergroup.org/documents.php?type=3

SEVERE WEATHER DAMAGES BUILDINGS
A number of buildings at Dounreay were damaged by severe weather during the weekend of March 17/18 when the site was affected by severe weather from the north. The highest wind speed recorded was 110mph. Among the buildings damaged was the roof of the site canteen, which has been operating a restricted service until repairs are complete.

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE ANNOUNCES LLW POLICY
New measures to manage low level radioactive waste safely were published by the Scottish Executive, other devolved administrations and the UK Government on March 26. See: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2007/03/26115823

AMBASSADORS HELP OUT AT SCIENCE FESTIVAL
More Dounreay workers have enrolled in the Science and Engineering Ambassadors scheme, as part of the Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics network (SETNET), bringing the total in the Caithness area to 20. SETNET is a UK-wide charity, which promotes STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and maths) in schools, through its Ambassadors. SETNET now works with over 13,000 Ambassadors throughout the country.

The Ambassadors assisted with the Caithness International Science Festival which took place from 19-23 March in Wick and Thurso, as part of National Science Week, involving all the primary schools in Caithness. More: http://www.ukaea.org.uk/sites/dounreay_ambassadors.html

POLITICAL VISITORS
Donald Macdonald, the Conservative Party's prospective Scottish parliamentary candidate for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, visited Dounreay on March 21. Rob Gibson, the SNP MSP, visited Dounreay, on March 30. Both men toured the site of Scotland's biggest nuclear decommissioning project, met senior management and spoke with trade union reps about the prospects for alternative employment once decommissioning is complete.