Dounreay Buletin - Issue 17

13th January 2008

NDA BOSS SEES FUEL PLANT BEING FLATTENED
Outgoing NDA chief engineer and nuclear safety director Laurence Williams was at Dounreay to see the shell of the old fuel fabrication plant being razed to the ground. The plant, code-named D1202, was the first of the "atomic factories" built at Dounreay in the 1950s to become operational. For the next 47 years, it used enriched uranium extracted from processing work to manufacture fuel elements for reactors in the UK and abroad. It is the first of the site fuel plants to be demolished.
See: http://www.ukaea.org.uk/sites/dounreay_project_updates.htm#dec0703

TRIALS DEMONSTRATE SEABED CLEAN-UP DEVICE
Offshore trials during December demonstrated that removal of particles from the seabed can be carried out by a remotely-operated vehicle. Two companies were chosen to deploy and demonstrate their respective remote particle retrieval system offshore of Dounreay and the second company will test its system in February.
See: http://www.ukaea.org.uk/sites/dounreay_part_ongoing_research.html#Remote

WORKERS GET THEIR AWARDS
The latest candidates to complete their SVQ Level 2 in Nuclear Technology Decommissioning, following nine months of extensive training and assessment verification, have received their certificates.
See: http://www.ukaea.org.uk/news/2007/20-12-07.html

LATEST SITE REPORT PUBLISHED
The latest quarterly report on site performance to the Dounreay Stakeholder Group has been published and can be viewed at: http://www.ukaea.org.uk/downloads/dounreay/Directors_Quarterly_Report_November_2007.pdf

OFFICE FIRE DELAYS RETURN TO WORK
Staff returning to work on January 7 were delayed from reaching their workplace in the site's waste management area while the fire brigade extinguished a small fire that occurred in an office at 7.24am. The cause is being investigated. Smoke and water damage was confined to the office. Staff were allowed to enter the area at 8.20am to resume decommissioning of the site after the festive break.

PFR TIGHTENS UP ITS CONTROLS
Arrangements have been put in place for improved procedures and communication for the handling of leftover radioactive materials at Prototype Fast Reactor. These were recommended by a team of experts who investigated the controls in place during a recent relocation of materials to a new storage area at the complex. A safety inspection carried out during the move of an old experimental sub-assembly was found to have breached other safety regulations about how such material should be handled. Regulators were informed of this and the improvements now in place.

GUIDE TO DOUNREAY IS PUBLISHED
A 28-page Guide to Dounreay, aimed at readers with little or no knowledge of the site, has been published. The colour booklet explains what Dounreay was, the work needed to demolish it and how to find out more. It is available on-line at http://www.ukaea.org.uk/downloads/dounreay/PR_First_time_Visitors_Booklet.pdf

Hard copies can be obtained from Dounreay Communications at Traill House, 7 Olrig Street, Thurso, by email from gemma.macdonald[AT]ukaea.org.uk or by telephone on 01847 806080.

HIE PUBLISH ACTION PLAN TO ADDRESS CLOSURE OF DOUNREAY
Highlands and Islands Enterprise has published an action plan and marketing plan to regenerate Caithness and north Sutherland as a result of Dounreay's closure. See: http://www.hie.co.uk/default.aspx.locid-0finewlob.Lang-EN.htm. Meanwhile, a report of the recent regeneration conference "Beyond Dounreay" has been published at http://www.navertech.com/caithnesspartnership/CaithnessConferenceReportV2.pdf

TWO YEAR PROGRAMME FOR GRADUATES
The NDA is leading on the development of an industry wide graduate recruitment scheme. The two year programme offers an exciting challenge and a tremendous career opportunity.
See: http://www.nda.gov.uk/news/calling-nuclear-graduates.cfm