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UKAEA has announced the preferred bidder for the largest single construction project yet during decommissioning Dounreay. Following a European-wide competitive tendering process, UKAEA has selected the BAND Alliance to deliver a plant to treat liquid and solid radioactive wastes that are a legacy of reprocessing fast reactor fuel at Dounreay. The Alliance consists of prime contractor AMEC and British Nuclear Group Project Services Ltd, NIS Ltd, DGP International and Weir Strachan & Henshaw.
Subject to obtaining the necessary regulatory, planning and other consents, the new plant is expected to cost in the region of £100 million to design and build. Its primary role will be to condition wastes arising from the clean-out of underground tanks used to store liquids from the historical reprocessing of fast reactor fuel. This waste accounts for almost 80% of the radioactive waste hazard at Dounreay and its treatment is the highest priority in the site restoration plan. Cement will be used to solidify the liquor inside steel drums, a method identified as the Best Practicable Environmental Option following public participation in the choice of treatment last year. The plant will also solidify other liquid wastes, encapsulate solid waste from historic operations and decommissioning in drums of cement, and provide interim storage for the conditioned waste pending a national strategy for its long-term storage or disposal. Under previous plans, separate plants would have been built to deal with these other wastes. By redesigning their treatment into a fully integrated facility, UKAEA has reduced the projected costs to the taxpayer by approximately £225million in construction and design costs, and will continue to look for further reductions in the overall cost as the design is developed. Norman Harrison, Dounreay Director, said: “This plant will be responsible for converting the largest single radiation hazard on the Dounreay site to a form that makes it passively safe for long term storage or disposal as solid intermediate level waste. This is the largest project yet to be undertaken at Dounreay on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, so today’s announcement of the consortium that is the preferred bidder represents a significant step forward.” On completion of the scheme design and subject to ministerial approval, detailed design and construction of the plant is expected to commence towards the end of 2007. During the construction phase, in excess of 200 jobs are likely to be created. Dounreay was Britain’s centre of fast reactor research and development from 1955 until 1994. The 140-acre site is now being decommissioned. This is expected to take until 2036 to complete at an estimated cost in the region of £2.9 billion. Fuel irradiated in the UK’s Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) was reprocessed at Dounreay until 1996 to separate the waste from the re-usable plutonium and uranium. The waste was extracted in the form of the acidic liquor, or raffinate, and approximately 200 m3 accumulated in underground tanks, where it continues to be stored safely and securely today. For more information about the waste, the consultation and the views of stakeholders, see: http://www.ukaea.org.uk/dounreay/prototype_fast_reactor.htm |
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