Dounreay Bulletin Issue 15

4th December 2007

4th December 2007

SHAFT ISOLATION PROJECT AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
Dounreay's shaft isolation is currently one month ahead of schedule. The project team has completed 75 per cent of the drilling and grouting required to construct the isolation barrier around the shaft. With the completion of the third series of primary drills, just over 12,000m of borehole has been drilled and grouted with a further 4,070m still to be drilled and grouted. More: http://www.ukaea.org.uk/sites/dounreay_project_updates.htm#nov0702

PRAISE FOR DECOMMISSIONING OF CRITICALITY CELL
NDA strategy director Jim Morse saw for himself the latest facility to be made ready for demolition at Dounreay when he toured what little remains of a plutonium criticality cell dating from the 1950s. The cell, measuring seven metres high and eight metres across, carried out pioneering work for the design of the fledgling UK power programme 50 years ago. More: http://www.ukaea.org.uk/sites/Jim_Morses_visit_to_D8550.html

LOCAL RESIDENTS INFORMED ON SITE CHARACTERISATION WORK FOR PROPOSED NEW LOW LEVEL WASTE DISPOSAL FACILITIES AT DOUNREAY
Dounreay has held the latest in a series of meetings with local residents to update them on the site investigation work undertaken for the site's proposed low level waste disposal facilities.

A planning application has been lodged and the period for its determination has been extended to allow Scottish Environment Protection Agency to undertake a detailed assessment of the first issue of the Environmental Safety Case prior to responding to Highland Council. The extension expires in July 2008.

During this extension period UKAEA has continued with the programmed site investigation work and its assessment of the emerging data, to further develop the Environmental Safety Case for the proposed facilities.

The recent meeting with the local residents gave the project team the opportunity to discuss the work undertaken to date and the results of this work. More: http://www.ukaea.org.uk/downloads/dounreay/LLW_update_Nov07.pdf

PARTICLE CLEAN-UP COMPANIES TO TRIAL THEIR SYSTEMS
Two contracts have been awarded to test retrieval systems for remotely operated vehicles for the proposed clean-up of particles from the seabed. Caithness firm Fathoms and a consortium of Land & Marine and Nukem have been awarded contracts to test their systems. Trials are expected to take place over the winter months.

DOUNREAY SETS STANDARD FOR NUCLEAR SITES WITH BS 18001
Dounreay is the first nuclear site to be awarded the new British Standard 18001. Independent external assessors EAQA audited the site for BS18001, and at the same time confirmed they were happy to award Dounreay a stand-alone certification for ISO9001 and ISO14001. BS18001 is a UK standard, which enables businesses to demonstrate that their safety procedures are within the requirements of the law. More: http://www.ukaea.org.uk/news/2007/26-11-07.html

RIFE REPORT SAYS PUBLIC DOSES WELL BELOW INTERNATIONAL LIMITS
Discharges of radioactivity during 2006 from Dounreay and other nuclear sites in Scotland were within authorised limits and the doses received by members of the public were substantially below international limits. This is stated in the latest edition of Radioactivity in Food and the Environment, published by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and other UK regulators. More: http://www.sepa.org.uk/news/releases/view.asp?id=608&y=2007

DOUNREAY OPENS INFORMATION DOOR TO PUBLIC
Dounreay has opened a "front shop" to make it easier for members of the public to communicate with the site about its clean-up and closure. The site's communications department has relocated to vacant offices in the centre of Thurso and converted part of the property to a public information centre. More: http://www.ukaea.org.uk/news/2007/27-11-07.html

APPRENTICES BECOME AMBASSADORS
Seventeen Dounreay apprentices and two graduates have become recruits of the Science & Engineering Ambassadors Scheme managed by SETNET. These new entrants were eager to join following their recent involvement in "Lab in a Lorry" at Thurso and Wick High Schools in September.
More: http://www.ukaea.org.uk/sites/dounreay_ambassadors_scheme.html

LENNON GARDEN GETS A LITTLE HELP FROM FRIENDS AT DOUNREAY
The John Lennon garden at Durness has been given a make-over thanks to a team of 12 volunteers who work on the Dounreay site. The teams, consisting of representatives from JCI, laboratory services and human resource department, volunteered to get out their spades to ensure the garden was looking its best for the recent John Lennon Northern Lights Festival.

DOUNREAY NEWS
The latest edition of Dounreay News includes a report on apprentice-giving, a question-and-answer guide to Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd and news of a project to build Scotland's biggest power station on the seabed of the Pentland Firth. See: http://www.ukaea.org.uk/news/publications_dounreay_news.html

JOINING FORCES TO MAKE FIRE EXERCISE A SUCCESS
The Dounreay Fire & Ambulance Service held a joint exercise with the Highlands & Islands Fire & Rescue Service during the evening of 11th October. The scenario for the exercise, which took place on the site, centred around an administration building which was being prepared for demolition. The emergency personnel were called out to deal with an explosion and fire, and to rescue casualties from inside the smoke-filled building. See link: http://www.ukaea.org.uk/sites/fire_exercise_story.html