Jacobs Joins Scottish Nuclear Clean-up Project

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Jacobs Engineering Group Incorporated (NYSE:JEC) (Pasadena, California) has secured a decommissioning contract at Scotland's first operational nuclear reactor at Dounreay.

The four-year framework agreement from Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL), will see Jacobs provide mechanical, electrical, control and instrumentation services for the decommissioning effort at the experimental dome reactor that was closed in 1977. The company said that it is "one of the most complex nuclear decommissioning projects in Europe."

The Dounreay site is a hub of nuclear decommissioning innovation. The reactor became Scotland's first operational reactor in 1958, achieving first criticality 60 years ago. It was constructed with steelwork weighing in at almost 600 tonnes and stands on foundations more than 25 metres in diameter. The reactor was used to test the effects of irradiation on metals and was the only reactor on the site to use heavy water instead of liquid metal as a coolant. For a time Dounreay was the U.K.'s centre for the research and testing of fast breeder reactors (FBR) and submarine reactors. For additional information, see August 29, 2017, article - Scotland's First Reactor to Be Demolished.

"As an experienced full life cycle solutions provider for the nuclear and defence industry, including all aspects of field services and decommissioning work, we share DSRL's vision to make this site and the surrounding area safe for future generations," said Pete Lutwyche, Jacobs Aerospace and Technology Senior Vice President and General Manager U.K. Nuclear and Defence.

Last month, DSRL announced that its team had started retrieving the last remaining radioactive fuel elements that have been stuck for decades inside the Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR). After it closed in 1977, most of the core fuel was removed, but work to remove elements from the breeder zone came to a halt when some were found to be swollen and jammed. Almost 1,000--about two-thirds of the total--were left in place. DSRL has spent years designing and testing remotely-operated equipment so that the decommissioning team can recover the elements. It is expected to take about three years to remove them all, after which work can begin on the final dismantling of the reactor.

"Dealing with this material is one of the highest priorities anywhere for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), not just at Dounreay but across our U.K. sites, said David Peattie, NDA Chief Executive. "The safe and timely retrieval of the breeder material is crucial to both the site's closure programme and the national defueling programme."

Industrial Info is tracking another project at the site to build a nuclear waste storage facility offering more storage space for 500-litre waste drums and a drum inspection area. It is expected to be completed by early 2018. For additional information, see December 1, 2015, article - Scottish Nuclear Waste Storage Facility Moves Forward.

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