Contracts for new Dounreay waste store

The planned construction of a new high-level waste storage facility at the UK's Dounreay site is progressing with the award of three contracts. The £22 million ($33 million) facility will be an extension to the existing Dounreay Cementation Plant.

The planned construction of a new high-level waste storage facility at the UK's Dounreay site is progressing with the award of three contracts. The £22 million ($33 million) facility will be an extension to the existing Dounreay Cementation Plant.

The planned new higher activity waste store (Image: DSRL)

The new facility will hold encapsulated waste arising from the decommissioning activities on the Dounreay site, providing more storage for 500-litre drums and a drum inspection area. It will use a remotely-operated process to condition and immobilize higher activity liquid waste for long-term storage by mixing it with cement in steel drums. Planning permission for the facility was granted by the Highland Council in March.

Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) announced yesterday that it has awarded Amec Foster Wheeler a 12-month contract for the design, safety case and environmental assessment for the facility. Under the contract, Amec Foster Wheeler will develop the concept into a fully detailed manufacturing design with a combined safety case submission. The value of the contract has not been disclosed.

Leigh Wakefield, director for Amec Foster Wheeler's clean energy business unit, said: "The design of this state-of-the-art facility is a key element in the decommissioning strategy of the site and one that we are looking forward to delivering for this important client."

Meanwhile, DSRL has awarded local contractor J Gunn and Sons a contract for the site enabling works. Work under the four-month agreement began at the end of October.

SCX Special Projects has been awarded a contract to design the drum handling crane.

DSRL manages and operates, on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the Dounreay site in Scotland, which was the UK's centre for experimental fast breeder research and development from 1954 until 1994.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News