Presented By: Mike James, Technology and Innovation Manager

1
Sellafield The Challenge Ahead

• Presented By Mike James, Technology and
  Innovation Manager

Nuclear Decommissioning Major Projects Group
Acceleration with Assurance
2
Sellafield History

• A key part of the UK nuclear industry for more
  than five decades
• Sellafield represents the most challenging
  nuclear site management programme in the world
• Originally, established during the early 1940s to
  home Royal Ordnance factories producing
  explosives for World War II. However, the British
  Government sought to develop its own independent
  nuclear capability recognising atomic energy
  could be harnessed for commercial uses
• During the early 1950s Britain's scientists and
  engineers combined to develop the world's first
  civil nuclear reactor programme

3
Sellafield History

• In 1953 Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered
  the building of four reactors and Her Majesty
  Queen Elizabeth II officially opened Calder
  Hall, the first commercial Nuclear Power
  Station in the world in October 1956
• Today, Sellafield Ltd manage and operate the site
  on behalf of the owners, The Nuclear
  Decommissioning Authority
• The site is home to the Thorp and Magnox
  reprocessing plants, the Sellafield Mixed Oxide
  Fuel manufacturing plant and a wide range of
  waste management and effluent treatment
  facilities
• Activities now include remediation,
  decommissioning, accelerated hazard reduction and
  clean-up of the historic legacy

4
Decommissioning Evolution

• Nuclear Decommissioning and Major Projects Group
  formed November 2006 to manage all of the current
  and future decommissioning work and major build
  projects on the Sellafield Site
• The Sellafield Nuclear Decommissioning and Major
  Projects programme is the largest and most
  diverse in the world today
• Total value of 46billion

5
Sellafield Decommissioning Challenges

• Extremely diverse portfolio of
• facilities to decommission
• including
• Magnox and Pile Fuel Storage Ponds
• Nuclear Reactors
• Solid Nuclear Waste Store
• Sea Discharge Pipelines
• Legacy Reactor Exhaust Stacks
• Reprocessed Product Finishing Lines
• Medical Source Production Plant
• Research Development Labs
• Legacy Reprocessing Plants
• Contaminated Land

6
What is there to Decommission?

• 170 major nuclear facilities and 2200 other
  buildings dating from 1940 to 2006
• 1 million m3 of concrete above ground, 1 million
  m3 below ground
• Some 200,000 Te of steel to be managed
• 61,200 M3 of conditioned ILW
• 37km road, 15km railway,120km sewers, 65km water,
  7km pipebridges (21 off), 16km ducts and trenches
  (333 off)
• Ongoing commercial operations until at least 2015

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• Highly diverse range of hazards. Nuclear,
  Conventional, Radiological and Environmental
  Safety are Paramount

8
NDMPG ramp-up
M
9
The Achievements
10
Cell Stabilisation

• Highly Active North Outer (HANO) Cell used as a
  route for ventilation gases
• Air was moist, acidic and warm
• Significant corrosion to the steelwork occurred
• Man Access to the HANO Cell precluded,
  prohibiting further decommissioning

11
Cell Stabilisation

• Bespoke laser scanner deployed to generate 3D
  images of the cell inventory
• This confirmed contents of cell could be
  encapsulated
• Low density grout was formulated in order to
  secure inventory
• Trials were undertaken in mock-up facility off
  site
• Grout pours now ongoing
• Upon cell stabilisation the grout can be easily
  removed and size reduced, minimising waste
  volumes and disposal costs

12
Major Projects - Underway

• Major Projects Group established to drive
  project management excellence, Construction
  underway of a number of site critical facilities

13
Future technical focus

• Condition monitoring of stored waste, waste
  packages, and store buildings
• Prediction of liquid discharges
• Characterisation and treatment of ILW and PCM
  wastes, and where possible reclassification to
  LLW
• Mobile treatment technologies
• Treatment of pond floor sludges
• Disposal techniques for pond furniture
• Innovative encapsulant technology
• Decontamination methods
• Remote dismantling
• Monitoring, treatment and reclassification of
  high volume LLW

14
Key Future Projects

• Pile Chimney Demolition
• Separation Area Ventilation
• Contaminated Land
• LLWR Separation

• Ponds and Silos programme
• Separation Area Management
• Site critical new builds
• SPRS, Evap D E, EPS 3

Nuclear Decommissioning Major Projects Group
Acceleration with Assurance
15
Conclusion

• We will continue to drive innovation in to the
  heart of all our activities
• In addition to the technical challenges ahead,
  the industry is undergoing a period of change
• PBO Competition
• Energy Coast
• Revitalised Sellafield
• New Build
• Safety and the environment will remain our number
  one priority

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• This concludes the presentation
• Thank you for your attention