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PETER WELSH RETIRES AS DOUNREAY DIRECTOR
Peter  Welsh  retired as director of Dounreay on 29 October 2003 after five years  in charge of the site. He took over in August 1998 during one of the site's  most  difficult  periods  and immediately took charge of the site's response  to  143  recommendations  made by regulators in their 1998 Safety Audit.


Peter Welsh pictured during his offical handover to new Dounreay Director Norman Harrison

Key achievements during his time in charge included:
·     A new focus on decommissioning and site restoration in the shape of the Dounreay Site Restoration
      Plan, including public participation in key projects.
·     Close-out of the Safety Audit.
·     Independent verification of safety practices at Level 8 on the International Safety Rating System, one
      of the highest scores in the UK.
·     The construction of new facilities and the refurbishment of existing facilities for managing waste from
       the site restoration plan.
·     A 50 per cent increase in the value of work being let to companies.
·     Britain's first modern apprenticeship in nuclear decommissioning and operations.

Mr  Welsh  said: "The progress that has been made since 1998 is a credit to the  professionalism of everyone who works at Dounreay and their commitment to its safe decommissioning and environmental restoration.  Their excellent work  in  the  progressive  reduction  of  hazards  that  are  a  legacy of
Dounreay's  experimental  past  is  something they can be very proud of.  I have  every confidence they can maintain that performance and keep Dounreay at the forefront of decommissioning skills in the UK and beyond."

Mr  Welsh  is  succeeded  by  Norman Harrison, formerly station manager for British Energy at Sizewell B.

"If  I  have  a regret, it is that Lorraine Mann, a prominent critic during the  last  five  years, did not accept my invitations to visit the site and see at first hand the improvements and progress we have made".