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January 2012
New Guidance
Qualitative Risk Assessment for Land Contamination, Including Radioactive Contamination
Nuclear industry to pay for clean-up from now on
ALL future costs of decommissioning nuclear power stations will have to be met by the industry.
The government has accepted an amendment to its Energy Bill put down by anti-nuclear MPs that make it explicit that owners of nuclear power stations would be fully responsible for any changes to clean-up operations or costs following decommissioning.
Copeland MP Jamie Reed has welcomed the move, but said the government should subsidise an underground nuclear storage facility.
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Sellafield reactor reaches end of decommissioning project
The iconic Sellafield nuclear power reactor has finally reached the end of its 20-year decommissioning programme.
The final section of the Outer Ventilation Membrane (OVM) was safely removed from the reactor’s concrete bioshield at the end of May, marking the successful completion of the final reactor decommissioning campaign.
Ian Cowan, Windscale Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor (WAGR) project manager, said: ‘Completion of the campaign is a significant milestone for the WAGR decommissioning project and draws to a close 20 years of work to safely dismantle, process and place into passive storage an industrial-scale power-generating nuclear reactor.’
The golf ball-shaped WAGR was built in the early 1960s to serve as a testbed for the further development of advance fuel and other components, and to provide the operational experience of power production and was the forerunner to the UK’s second generation of power reactors.
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Plans for UK's 'legacy' of nuclear waste unveiled
The UK's long term solution for dealing with nuclear waste became a little clearer yesterday as the government published a consultation on how to select potential storage sites and provided an update on its disposal programme.
The government said the UK has built up a "substantial legacy" of radioactive waste from both civil and defence-related nuclear programmes and faces a £4bn bill in decommissioning and clean-up costs. Some of the waste is already in storage, but most will only become waste over the coming decades as existing nuclear facilities are decommissioned.
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The UK is looking for ways to speed up its radioactive waste disposal program, hoping to have an underground facility in operation by 2029.
This week, energy minister Charles Hendry revealed the first annual report from the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely program, which actually began some ten years ago after the collapse of a former scheme in the 1990s. All options have been considered in the intervening period, ending with a firm commitment to pursue geologic disposal for high- and intermediate-level radioactive wastes.
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The government has kicked off a multi-billion pound programme of handing over nuclear sites to the private sector with offers to bid for the Drigg low-level waste repository. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has asked companies to fill in a pre-qualification questionnaire which will determine whether they are eligible to make a formal offer to manage the facility in Cumbria. British engineer Amec and US project manager Washington are among those likely to bid. The NDA is expected to choose a private sector operator for what used to be a top-secret location by October next year.
SD:SPUR event: Nuclear decommissioning and the waste hierarchy - Summary and presentations
On the 11th of May 2011, SD:SPUR hosted a successful event aimed at stimulating debate regarding the different management startegies for LLW in the UK. The event was chaired by Tim Hedahl of the LLWR and we heard presentations from Sellafield, SITA, EnergySolutions and RSRL amongst others. The event was well attended by industry and the supply chain and SD:SPUR wishes to thank all of those that helped make the day a success. Please click here to access the presentations from the day.
Nuclear decommissioning: Priorities and challenges
This SAFESPUR event, held on the 12th of January 2011, was well attended by contractors, consultants and industry bodies looking to learn about innovative techniques and general issues in the sector. AMEC hosted the event and educated us about some of their interesting and challenging projects as well as providing us with top tips for working with the nuclear lab. A representative of the Diamond consortium informed us about the nature of their work and provided us with an example of the cutting edge technology they are developing. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority gave an informative overview of the industry and gave us soime insight into the nature of NDA priorities looking forward. The presentations are available on the SAFESPUR website.
Government unveils plans to place financial risk of nuclear decommissioning on developers
9 December 2010 - NCE online - The government today revealed plans to place responsibility for decommissioning on operators of new nuclear power stations, which are in line with the government's policy that there should be no subsidy for new nuclear, it said.
New nuclear operators will be required by law to put money aside from day one to pay for the eventual decommissioning costs and their full share of waste disposal.
The proposals are revealed in DECC's draft consultation on Funded Decommissioning Programme Guidance (Available on the DECC website by clicking here), published by the government today. This sets out how operators will be required to meet their obligation to have robust decommissioning plans and secure funds in place before constructing a new power station.
Also published today is the consultation on a Waste Transfer Pricing Methodology (Avaliable from the DECC website by clicking here) to ensure safe disposal of radioactive waste from new nuclear power stations without cost to the taxpayer, while attempting to encourage developers by creating the cost certainty they need to be able to invest.
The consultation sets out how a price will be determined for the disposal of new build higher activity waste in the planned Geological Disposal Facility, the government's preferred solution for dealing with legacy waste regardless of any new nuclear build.
Changes made to the radioactive contaminated land regulation regime
1 November 2010 - An amendment which redefines “substance” for radioactive contaminated land, removing the exclusion for radon and its decay products came into force on 30 September 2010.
The amending regulation for England can be found at:
www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/2147/pdfs/uksi_20102147_en.pdf
The amending regulation for Wales can be found at:
www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/2146/pdfs/uksi_20102146_en.pdf
Similar amendments have been made in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The change will allow the regulator to take action where land is contaminated by radon or its decay products as a result of the after-effects of a radiological emergency or a past activity e.g. radium luminised paint remnants. Naturally occurring radon gas continues to remain outside the scope of the regime.
NDA launches UK strategy for managing low level radioactive waste
27 August 2010 – NDA - The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has published the UK Strategy for the Management of Solid Low Level Radioactive Waste (LLW) from the Nuclear Industry. Low level waste covers a wide variety of lightly contaminated material that arises as scrap and redundant equipment in both nuclear and non-nuclear industries. It generally comprises plastic, paper, clothing, wood, metal and building rubble. Managing this waste effectively is vital for nuclear decommissioning and power generation operations and for other LLW producers, such as hospitals and universities.
Publication of the final strategy follows a consultation on the draft, which ran from June to November in 2009. 74 responses were received on the draft strategy and its accompanying Strategic Environmental Assessment. These were provided from a wide range of parties, including Regulators, Local Authorities from across the UK, supply chain companies and other interested groups. More...
Chapelcross hits defuelling milestone
26 August 2010 - NEI Magazine - Fifty flasks of spent nuclear fuel from the Chapelcross nuclear power station has been shipped to Sellafield for reprocessing, operator Magnox North said today.
Since defueling began in August 2009, 20% of the fuel elements have been removed from the four reactors at Chapelcross.Removal of all 38,075 fuel elements is due to be completed by April 2012.
Electric-operated tugs are being used to move flasks containing the spent fuel from the Chapelcross reactor chambers to flask handling bays. Flasks are then shipped to Sellafield. The system supplied by MasterMover has helped to reduce the risk of handling-related injuries.
To move a flask from the reactor chamber to the flask-handling bay at Chapelcross, the integrated flask and bogie first need to be guided along the track.More...
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