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Sealines successfully recovered by British Nuclear Group
British Nuclear Group has this week successfully completed a three year project to remove three redundant pipelines (sealines) from the beach and offshore at Sellafield. Completion of this multi-million pounds project illustrates the commitment to decommissioning and cleaning up legacy infrastructure at Sellafield.
The complex and challenging project to recover 5702 metres of redundant pipeline adjacent to Sellafield has been successfully completed by British Nuclear Group’s Clean up and Decommissioning Projects in conjunction with specialist marine contractor Land and Marine, Atlas divers, AMEC NNC, Eurest catering and Ashcroft Plant.
The project included removal of two mild steel pipelines installed in 1949 and the recovery of a plastic Temporary Sealine installed in the early 1990s. The pipelines were historically used to discharge treated process effluent and rainwater from the Sellafield site into the Irish Sea.
The final stage of the project, to remove the remaining sections of the Temporary Sealine was completed on 25 June. Recovery of the final sections of this pipeline marked the end of a unique and challenging decommissioning project on land and at sea.
Commencing in August 2003, the project has overcome many challenges, not least battling with variable weather and carrying out diving operations in difficult conditions through poor visibility.
Tony Price, Director of Clean-up, British Nuclear Group, said: “This is an excellent example of our commitment to remediation and clean-up of our environment. I understand that these are the first ever process discharge pipelines from a nuclear facility that have been recovered anywhere in the world.
“This project presented significant challenges to protect the environment and our priority has always been to complete the work safely and to minimise the impact on the environment and the local community. I would like to thank all those who have supported the project throughout its lifetime for their dedication and the local community for their understanding of the challenges involved.”
David Moore, Chairman of the West Cumbria Sites Stakeholder Group, said: “I am delighted to see the completion of this project especially as it is one that has been carried out under difficult conditions in the public domain. Community leaders have been regularly updated on progress and details regarding reassurance monitoring. I also had the opportunity to go offshore to see the challenging conditions the divers faced and this helped me better understand the complexities of the project. Well done to everyone involved.”
Following inspection of the seabed, the project will be demobilising and the marine vessels which have been a familiar sight offshore at Sellafield will be moving onto new work. Monitoring of the beach will continue over the next month, following this, the normal site monitoring programme will resume.
