Latest news
First Fuel Exported From Legacy Pond in Fifteen Years
British Nuclear Group has taken a GIANT step towards reducing hazard at Sellafield with the flawless retrieval of a skip containing Magnox fuel from a legacy storage pond.
This landmark achievement, delivered during a single work shift on Wednesday 2 November, signified the first fuel to be exported from the pond in fifteen years.
The recovered skip, contained within a fifty tonne flask, was safely exported by road to the Fuel Handling Plant for further processing. The fuel will now undergo trials to prove that reprocessing is a viable treatment option. If successful this has the potential to significantly accelerate the decommissioning of the legacy pond and could take up to ten years off the programme.
A recently completed pond survey, utilising proven marine technology, enabled the intelligent exploration of techniques for safe and efficient retrieval. The fuel in the pond has been underwater between 20 and 40 years, and in the absence of any concrete information has been assumed to be nuclear waste. Footage captured during the survey clearly illustrated that a significant quantity of fuel is in better condition than anticipated, warranting the attempt to reprocess it.
The skip was retrieved through a Fuel Inlet Cell that had been stripped of all external equipment in preparation for future refurbishment. Equipment vital to this retrieval was inoperable because drives, controls and interlocks had previously been removed, so a fit-for-purpose approach was agreed upon due to the pilot nature of the project. This required innovative and practical engineering solutions and safety case production. The novel approaches implemented by the project ensured safe and successful retrieval, on time and on budget.
Steve Bruce, project manager, emphasised: “This has been a very exciting project for all involved and has generated a highly motivated team totally committed to a successful outcome. The project team has achieved tremendous successes using innovation and ingenuity to deliver a challenging project within very short timescales.
“Once again, British Nuclear Group has clearly shown it has the skills and experience to deliver breakthrough thinking to safely accelerate the clean-up and decommissioning on the Sellafield site.”
