Sellafield awards multi-year 'high hazard risk reduction' contracts

Four separate lots went to competitive tenders and form part of the Decommissioning and Nuclear Waste Partnership which lasts for an initial nine years with an option to extend for a further six years.

The Decommissioning Alliance, a joint venture of Amentum, AtkinsRéalis and Westinghouse, has been selected for the retrieval of hazardous waste from legacy ponds at the site. These include the First Generation Magnox Storage Pond - which operated for more than 30 years from the late 1950s - and the Pile Fuel Storage Pond, which was built in the 1940s.

_{The First Generation Magnox Storage Pond (Image: Sellafield Ltd/Gov.uk)}

Retrievals from the Pile Fuel Storage Pond began in the 1990s, 20 years after it entered care and maintenance. Sellafield says that 76% of the radioactivity has been removed and it is now entering its final phase of retrievals: "Our priority today is to continue to retrieve the remaining inventory of waste in the pond - solid ILW, sludge, sludge debris and fuel materials - so it can be treated appropriately and placed into safe, modern storage."

_{The Pile Fuel Storage Pond (Image: Sellafield Ltd/Gov.uk)}

Amentum said it plans to "deploy pioneering, robot-operated technology such as the Bulk Sludge Retrieval Tool, a vacuum suction system for safely removing radioactive sludge from nuclear fuel ponds and pumping it away for processing and packaging. Remotely operated vehicles will be used for inspection, sampling, retrieval, cutting and handling of waste in high-radiation zones, enabling safer and more efficient high-hazard reduction, while innovative methods for transferring radioactive waste from storage skips into shielded containers will improve efficiency by reducing overall volumes".

A2R, a joint venture of Altrad and AtkinsRéalis, and Amentum have been selected to carry out remediation work. Amentum said their work includes clearance of redundant buildings to make land available for re-ruse and also preparatory decommissioning work on the old nuclear reactor complexes and fuel facilities.

Nuclear Decommissioning Solutions combines Altrad, Cavendish Nuclear and Shepley Engineers, with its framework director Mike Lacey saying of its retrievals lot: "We will work together with our Sellafield Silos Partner to support this nationally important programme of retrieval operations. By working collaboratively, in all aspects of our joint undertaking, we will create a lasting legacy and safe environment for future generations. In committing to the proposed long-term sustainability plan with our partners, which will be at the heart of everything we do, we will continue to deliver real social impact and value to the local communities."

Chris Conboy, managing director - Nuclear EMEA, AtkinsRéalis, on behalf of A2R, said: "Altrad and AtkinsRéalis have supported Sellafield Ltd for over three decades. Through the DNWP Framework, we will continue to deploy our knowledge, commitment and shared expertise to deliver complex remediation and waste treatment services safely, sustainably, and efficiently, helping Sellafield to deliver on its mission and in the lasting impact it has on the local community."

Loren Jones, senior vice president, Amentum, said: "We will bring world-class, multidisciplinary, end-to-end engineering and project management capabilities to the UK's most significant nuclear legacy challenges while also delivering outstanding performance on safety, collaboration, social impact and key supply chain management."

John Murphy, operations director, Westinghouse Environmental Services UK and The Decommissioning Alliance Chair, said the alliance was "a world-class blend of engineering, project management and nuclear innovation capabilities. We are delighted that we will be able to bring these to bear in support of Sellafield Ltd's vital mission whilst also delivering significant benefits to the local economy through job creation, training and small and medium-enterprise partnerships”.

James Riddick, Sellafield Ltd chief supply chain officer, said: "Cleaning up the legacy of historic operations on our site is at the heart of our mission. It is important that we achieve this safely, efficiently, and sustainably … we're pleased to welcome our new partners. Their specialist capabilities and teams, working alongside our skilled Sellafield workforce, will help us deliver our mission and drive progress both on site and across our wider community."