There is something slightly strange about spending money painting a building which is eventually going to be demolished. That is what is happening at Dounreay, where the famous steel sphere containing the Dounreay Fast Reactor is being maintained while the difficult job of removing what remains inside it continues.
Dounreay is no longer the giant nuclear research establishment it once was, but a new economic assessment shows that it remains one of the most important pillars of the Caithness and north Sutherland economy. The question that follows from that is perhaps even more important.
Dounreay Supports Almost One in Four Jobs Across Caithness and North Sutherland Dounreay's importance to the Caithness economy is even greater than many people might realise. A new economic impact assessment commissioned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and carried out by PwC estimates that the Dounreay site supported £179 million of economic activity in Caithness and North Sutherland during 2024/25.
Vehicle theft is becoming increasingly sophisticated, with criminals using electronic equipment to exploit weaknesses in modern vehicle security systems. New legislation is now set to give police and the courts additional powers to tackle the people who possess, manufacture, adapt, import or supply electronic devices intended to facilitate vehicle theft.
There is something increasingly strange about Scotland's position in Britain's emerging nuclear revival. Scotland has nuclear sites.
A major piece of underground engineering at Dounreay has been completed, bringing the Orkney electricity link another step closer to reality and putting Caithness at the centre of a project designed to unlock hundreds of megawatts of renewable energy. SSEN Transmission has announced the successful completion of horizontal directional drilling (HDD) at Dounreay, describing it as a major milestone in the construction of the Orkney Link.
Caithness at the Centre of Scotland’s Electricity Revolution: The Transformation Happening Around Us Look across Caithness today and it is easy to see individual electricity projects – a new substation here, a cable route there, construction work around Dounreay or Spittal. But put them together and a much bigger picture emerges.
For Greg MacLeod of Precision Plumbing in Thurso, support from Caithness Business Fund helped reduce the pressure of taking on and training an apprentice, giving the business a safety net while investing in future skills. “Support from Caithness Business Fund has been a huge benefit to our business.
Innovative robotic solutions being trialled at Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS) Oldbury site to tackle most challenging aspects of legacy waste management. Oldbury nuclear decommissioning site is a trailblazer for robotics and other innovative approaches, with NRS deploying robotics trials in South Gloucestershire to tackle some of the most challenging aspects of legacy waste management, reducing risk to workers and improving efficiency.