Sellafield contracts enable radioactive-waste retrieval
Decommissioning progress on one of Sellafield’s oldest nuclear plants has moved forward with three new contracts totalling more than £160m to enable radioactive-waste retrieval.
According to Sellafield, the Pile Fuel Cladding Silo (PFCS) is almost 60 years old and contains more than 4,000m3 of historic radioactive waste that has to be retrieved from the facility as part of the decommissioning work.
To facilitate the clean-up, Sir Robert McAlpine has been awarded £8m for the silo’s retrieval facility superstructure, Bechtel Babcock Nuclear Services (BBNS) is in receipt of £150m for the waste-retrieval modules and Clarke Chapman has received £3m to build and test a Semi Goliath crane.
Tim Davies, head of PFCS Retrieval Projects, said: ‘Sellafield has let these contracts in order to deliver an accelerated decommissioning programme that we have committed to and agreed with our customer, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority [NDA].’
Dr Ian Hudson, the NDA’s head of programme for Sellafield, said: ‘Getting to a position to start radioactive-waste retrievals from our legacy facilities such as the Pile Fuel Cladding Silo is crucial to the long-term success of our decommissioning mission on the site.’
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