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URANIUM LINES ARE CLEANED OUT
15 November 03
UKAEA has completed the post-operational clean-out of a redundant
uranium processing facility in preparation for its eventual
decommissioning. The Amber Area - an annexe of the D1203 uranium recovery
plant - contains solvent extraction and dissolver equipment, storage tanks
and glove boxes that were used to process uranium. Work started in 1998 to
prepare for the clean-out of these facilities with the design and
installation of new ventilation equipment manufactured by local
engineering companies. This enabled staff to carry out detailed surveys of
the work required to clean out the facility. Over an 18-month period, more
than 1400 entries were made by staff wearing protective air-line suits to
clean out all the waste residue. This produced approximately 250 drums of
solid low-level waste.
The clean-out phase was completed
when staff successfully transferred 26 litres of uranium liquor to a tank
where it is now being stored pending chemical recovery of the uranium.
Contractors who supported UKAEA staff during the £1.5 million clean-out
phase included AEA Technology, Nicolson Engineering, D. Gow and Son, JGC
Engineering and Technical Solutions and DGP International. The next step
in decommissioning the Amber Area will be the removal of the fixed
equipment.
UKAEA staff who cleaned out at the Amber Area
made more than 1400 entries wearing protective airline suits. Our picture
shows Ricky Eunson getting dressed in his airline suit, assisted by Dougie
Treasurer (facing) and Iain Cowie.
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