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Dounreay

NDA DIRECTORS SEE CLEAN-UP OF FAST REACTOR LEGACY
The board of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority got a close-up look at the progress being made to decommission Britain's fast reactor legacy when it visited Dounreay on 27 April 2006.

The NDA is responsible for the clean-up of 20 civil nuclear sites in the UK, with Dounreay being the second largest of them. UKAEA, working with AMEC and CH2MHILL through their recently-announced alliance, now decommissions the site under a contract with the NDA.

UKAEA site director Norman Harrison welcomed the board to Dounreay and updated its directors on areas such as accelerated decommissioning, a reorganisation of staff and improvements to safety culture.

Accompanied by John Lehew, who recently joined the site from CH2MHILL as Dounreay decommissioning unit manager, the board visited the Dounreay cementation plant and saw the progress being made to resume later this year the treatment of liquid waste left over the site's days as a reprocessing plant.

Later, they visited the Prototype Fast Reactor and toured the progress being made to destroy the sodium coolant, dismantle the various components and clean out the ancillary facilities.

Pictured outside the Prototype Fast Reactor are members of the NDA board with (from left) UKAEA's Neil Maclean, CH2MHILL's John Lehew and UKAEA's Jim McCafferty.