Sellafield News Thursday 11th September 2008

Work to decommission one of the highest hazards at Sellafield took a major step forward this week with the start of de-sludging activities in the Windscale Pile Fuel Storage Pond.

Sludge, in the form of corrosion products and wind blown material, which has accumulated in the pond since it was commissioned in 1952, is being mobilised by the use of water lances and flushed into the main pond. It is then being retrieved and moved into a pond corral.

A remotely operated vehicle, named ‘Metal Mickey’, will also be used by the plant operators to access some of the more difficult areas of the pond.

This first phase of remediation will see the sludge retrieved from the two of the original twelve bays within the pond, in which fuel was decanned and exported for processing.

Future phases of decommissioning the plant will see sludge transferred from the corral to a new facility which is currently being constructed adjacent to the pond, for interim storage prior to final treatment.

A delighted Steve Topping, Head of Delivery, said: “The step we’ve taken today is the culmination of years of effort by a dedicated team. We have started de-sludging one of the highest hazard facilities at Sellafield and we shouldn’t underestimate the importance of this for the site and local community or the UK nuclear industry as a whole.”

In parallel, the team has successfully started up a Local Effluent Treatment Plant to treat the pond water.
Steve said: “Activity levels in the pond may be affected by the sludge retrieval operations. What the Local Effluent Treatment Plant allows us to do is treat and control the activity in the pond water, helping to protect both the workforce and the environment and is a major achievement in its own right.”

George Andrews, Superintendent for Legacy Ponds and Silos, was equally pleased with the achievement. “This is a very challenging project which the team have put an incredible amount of effort into. I can’t emphasise enough what a tremendous job this is, and how important it is to the decommissioning of the Sellafield site. Fantastic work!”