`Predator` robot comes to Dounreay

For and about the
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
‘Predator’ robot
comes to Dounreay
Dounreay’s new robotic arm –
known as ‘Predator’ – is the first of
its kind and size in the world.
The Brokk 180 R robot is a
production-line, heavy duty,
master/slave manipulator and uses a
similar concept to innovative Wii
technology. Looking like something
from the 1980s Arnold
Schwarzenegger movie, its panEuropean launch took place at the
T3uk purpose-built trials centre at
Janetstown on the outskirts of Thurso.
Crucial
Jared Fraser, Design Office
Manager, said, “Remotely
controlled equipment such as this is
crucial to assist with the site’s
decommissioning programme and
cleaning up and dismantling redundant plants and facilities, where
access is more restricted. The
ground-breaking technology used in
the Brokk 180 is leading the way in
its field.”
Brokk developed a highly
intuitive control system for the
control of its 7-function high
dexterity arms.
Continued on page 2
Issue : 94
November
2007
Safety audits
bring smiles : 3
Farewell
to John : 7
First fuel
pond drained : 8
Training targets
specific changes
Working with experts from the Royal Society for the
Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), Harwell is introducing a new
approach to improving its safety performance.
Behavioural safety focuses on identifying, addressing and
correcting specific behaviours, and Harwell’s Mike Crosbie
and Helen Locke have been working with a consultant from
RoSPA and facility safety advisers on developing a targeted
behavioural change programme for Harwell.
Continued on page 4
Culham
Dounreay
UKAEA Governance
4 page supplement
Plus all the news
from your site…
Helen Locke highlights the safety message
Harwell
Windscale
Winfrith
2
UKAEATODAY November 2007
Schedule reviewed n UKAEA Ltd contract n Inquiry helpline n Foundation degree
‘Predator’
robot
comes to
Dounreay
Continued from page 1
The operator is linked to
the manipulator arm
through a single hand
controller that responds to
their natural arm motion;
the master is the control
device in the operator’s
hand, the slave is the
hydraulic arm being
controlled.
NDA
Business
Plan
The NDA are reviewing their
competition schedule. This follows
their announcement in October that
there would be a pause in the process
to consider both the experience of
their LLWR (Low Level Waste
Repository) and Sellafield competitions
and the commercial feedback they had
received. Under this review, the NDA
will be considering the optimum
sequencing, scope and timing of the
remaining competitions for their sites,
to attract the highest quality bids. This
could involve looking at the scope to
compete UKAEA and non-UKAEA
sites as part of a single tender process
or even as a single contract. These
considerations are not, however,
expected to delay the completion of
the NDA’s overall programme.
Spending review
As the operator’s shoulder, elbow or wrist moves,
corresponding joints in the
master controller and the
slave manipulator arm move
simultaneously, just as if
they were physically
attached to one another.
Small electric actuators
located on the individual
joints of the master
controller provide force
feedback to the operator,
allowing them to feel a
portion of the dynamic
forces that are acting upon
the arm.
Awareness
The instinctive nature of
master/slave control,
combined with the sense of
feeling created by force
feedback, dramatically
improves operator awareness while allowing them to
control a myriad of arm
functions in a non-stressful
manner.
Brokk trials will continue
across other nuclear sites in
the UK and other European
destinations, before heading
to Russia.
Contract success
for UKAEA Ltd
As part of the Comprehensive
Spending Review, the Government
have confirmed that a further £338M
will be available by 2010/11 to the NDA
to deliver risk reduction at high hazard
facilities and an appropriate strategy to
manage commercial operations at
Sellafield. In addition, over the same
period, the NDA are expected to
generate £125M cash-releasing
savings for the same purpose.
The NDA are planning to publish their
three-year Business Plan in November,
which will be subject to consultation
with stakeholders. Details of the
Business Plan will be publicised within
UKAEA as soon as it is available.
UKAEA presenters with their hosts from the Lithuania Ministry of Economy: Martin Bundy (3rd from left),
Peter Ritson (4th from left), Jill Innes (7th from left) and Craig Brown (1st from right). The fifth member of the
party, Kevin Wilson, took the photograph.
The first of the UKAEA Ltd support contracts with the Lithuania Ministry of Economy is coming
to a successful completion. This project culminated in October with five UKAEA presenters
travelling to Lithuania to present the recommendations and proposals identified during the last
nine months review of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP). These were well received by
the Ministry and have paved the way for future UKAEA Ltd assistance.
Detailed
The UKAEA presenters also delivered a detailed programme management training course to a
selection of INPP stakeholders, which included the Ministry, Regulator and Site Management
personnel. This training concluded with the presentation to the attendees of copies of 'Nuclear
Decommissioning, Waste Management and Environmental Site Remediation' which will provide
them a good reference document as they move forward with their own decommissioning
challenges. The UKAEA Ltd presenters were Craig Brown, Martin Bundy, Peter Ritson, Kevin
Wilson and Jill Innes.
Communications
qualification
Redfern
Inquiry
Communications’ Sarah Stead was presented
with a Foundation Degree in Arts in September
after studying Communication in Organisations
with Oxford Brookes University. The two-year
full-time work-based study programme
focused on analysis of effective
communication skills and understanding
organisational structures and how
communication works within them.
UKAEA has now written to
all callers to UKAEA’s
helpline in response to their
queries.
Meanwhile, the Redfern
Inquiry helpline is continuing
to take calls from anyone
who has concerns about
previous post mortem
procedures in the nuclear
industry.
As widely reported,
members of the Inquiry are
keen that anyone should
contact them who may have
information or concerns
relevant to their
investigations.
The Inquiry can be
contacted on 0161 837 1554
or by email at contact@
theredferninquiry.co.uk
Achievement
With a full-time job and three young children,
Sarah found it hard to find time to study but
felt a real sense of achievement at the end. “I
really felt I had worked hard to gain this
qualification,” she commented. “As well as
learning about why people communicate the
way they do, I also learnt a lot about myself.
And my example has inspired my children to
try harder and achieve more.”
Sarah is now considering going on to obtain
a full BA Hons.
November 2007 UKAEATODAY
3
Safety certification n Shadow working n Employee survey
Double quality
standard success
Restructuring
latest
Agreement was received from the regulators in October to
allow Dounreay to proceed with their reorganisation. This
means that Windscale is now in shadow working mode,
with Dounreay expected to announce shadow working by
the end of October. This is yet another step on the way to
the transfer of Windscale to Sellafield Ltd and the
relicensing as Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd (DSRL).
Subject to a satisfactory shadow working period,
relicensing is expected in April.
Following latest discussions with regulators, it is likely
that the earliest date for agreement on the reorganisation
of Harwell/Winfrith will be in the New Year, which should
permit shadow working to start in earnest in February, with
licensing 6 months later by August.
Documentation
Given the fundamental changes involved, the change
documentation is extensive. “The Transition Managers at
the sites, along with their teams, have had an immense
task, bringing together all the necessary data and
justifications for the changes” said Colin Butterworth
(UKAEA Restructuring Programme Manager). “In addition
to the usual LC36 management of change documentation,
detailed management prospectuses have had to be
produced for each site, which run to thousands of pages.”
The key relevant documents prepared by UKAEA are now
being placed on the Restructuring Pages of the Intranet,
so that they are fully accessible to all staff.
Transfer Scheme
L to r; Paul Murphy, Lorrain Lannon, Bill Stockho and Kevin Henderson
UKAEA and Dounreay have
been successful in retaining
and obtaining quality management and safety management
standards, after audits by
independent external assessors
EAQA.
UKAEA-wide quality and
environmental certification to
ISO 9001/ISO 14001 was
retained, while Dounreay was
awarded a new certification to
the OHSAS 18001 standard.
Dounreay was assessed
against the Health & Safety
Management Systems
Specification, OHSAS 18001.
“Though not as well known as
ISO 9001/ISO 14001, this
certification is gaining increasing prominence and has
recently been given the status
of a British Standard,”
explained UKAEA Quality
Manager, Richard Hibbert.
Wider issues
The assessment against
OHSAS 18001 – which
emphasises the wider cultural
issues of safety management,
such as leadership and worker
participation – was carried out
at Dounreay, along with their
ISO 900/14001 assessment.
Management Systems Team
Leader Paul Murphy was
closely involved in the auditing process at Dounreay.
“It was refreshing in preparing for the audit to go back to
basics. We had a mature safety
management system but we
had not done a root and branch
review for some time,” said
Paul. “Our system now hangs
together better, from policy,
through objectives and
improvement programme to
risk and activity controls and
ongoing improvements. We
have confidence that improvement opportunities will be
spotted and effectively acted
upon.
“We took the opportunity to
provide 18001 training to our
embedded safety advisors and
safety representatives; this
gave them a more holistic
understanding of safety
management in general, which
complemented their existing
safety expertise in specific
safety topic areas.
“We also roped our senior
management into the lecture
theatre to remind them of their
responsibilities for safety
management and the crucial
role leadership plays.
“All this was acknowledged
by the NDA in September
when they came for their
annual safety review of
Dounreay. They were most
impressed with the improvements we have made to our
system over this last year, so
much so that they may waive
next year’s review.
Proud
“Everybody at Dounreay
should feel proud of their
achievement. As far as we
know we are only the second
organisation in the UK to gain
triple certification. We should
feel even prouder of the fact
that we achieved it with ease!”
The EAQA surveillance
team visited the company’s
corporate centre and all its
operational sites to carry out
its assessment for ISO
9001/ISO 14001 accreditation.
“EAQA were complimentary
about the way change is being
managed and about the level of
compliance with ISO
9001/ISO 14001,” commented
Richard. “I’m happy to say
that reports from all areas were
positive and no significant
concerns were raised.
Continued certification was
recommended.”
Following the transfer of most UKAEA property and other
physical assets to NDA in April 2007, work is progressing
on the next phase of Transfer Schemes. “We definitely
won’t be producing more thousand page documents” said
Colin “although the legal documentation will inevitably be
quite lengthy.” There will be separate schemes for
Dounreay, Windscale and UKAEA Ltd, scheduled for April
2008, with schemes for Harwell and Winfrith following
when these sites are relicensed. Each of the Schemes will
include the transfer of relevant staff from UKAEA under
TUPE. In addition, these schemes will deal with the
transfer of relevant UKAEA contracts and IT assets. It is
intended that sites’ physical IT assets, such as pc’s and
other hardware, will become the property of the NDA,
while software will remain the property of the site licence
companies.
More progress
to report
Only three months after the publication of the Employee
Survey Action Plan on the Intranet, five of the 17 actions are
complete and a further four are well advanced.
Following on from your suggestions in the post-survey
workshops, more information has been made available on TU
safety representatives and their role, both through UKAEA
Today and other routes. There has also been more coverage of
the NDA and their activities.
Improving
The focus has now moved to ways of improving and
expanding communications channels with senior management.
A Q&A session with CEO Norman Harrison is already planned
and other options are being explored. So watch this space for
further developments.
UKAEATODAY November 2007
4
Safety & Health
Training targets specific changes
Continued from page 1
“Through behavioural-based safety programmes, companies
can ascertain the principal causes of human error and safety
violations, using observation and analysis,” Helen explained.
“They can then devise and implement ways of changing
behaviours that are causing concern.”
Senior managers, safety advisers and safety representatives
have already been given training by RoSPA. Staff in B462 were
chosen as the first to receive training and start carrying out
observations.
Five behavioural safety training sessions were held in
September, led by Helen Locke and attended by all B462 staff,
including operators, maintenance, managers and support staff.
Once the pilot area trials have been completed the process will
be rolled out across the site.
“The talks were well received and staff contributed well to the
discussions,” said Helen. Staff began carrying out observations
of key behaviours in October, to find out which need
improvement. A programme of behavioural change assessment
of senior managers will also be rolled out.
Scheme rewards
safe working
Harwell’s Safety and Environment Recognition
and Reward Scheme began in October.
Launching the initiative just before his
retirement, then Head of Site John Wilkins
said, “Safe delivery of the Harwell Site
Restoration Programme depends on the active
involvement of all employees and contractors.
Whilst we expect everyone to work to the
highest of safety and environmental standards,
employee contributions to safety that exceed
our normal expectations should be
recognised.”
Among the rewards included are: ‘A pound a
UNOR’, with money raised being donated to
local charities; a UNOR of the week award; a
monthly personal safety and environment
award, and on the spot safety awards and
bonuses. Recipients will receive shopping
vouchers, restaurant meals and safety-related
items.
The scheme is open to all employees and
contractors working on UKAEA Harwell
contracts. Full details are available on the
Harwell intranet pages.
Electrical
safety at work
Following a number of
occurrences related to
electrical safety, ‘How to avoid
risks from electric shock’ was
the topic of a recent ‘Pause for
Safety’ presentation at Culham
by Senior Electrical Safety
Advisor Peter Simpson.
Around 1,000 electrical
accidents at work are reported
to HSE each year and about 25
people die of their injuries. The
Culham presentation focused
on the dangers of electricity
and the precautions needed
when working with electrical
equipment.
Most electrical accidents,
the Culham audience was told,
occur because people work on
or near equipment without
realising it is live, or because
they know the equipment is live
but don’t have the appropriate
training or equipment, or don’t
take proper precautions to
keep themselves safe.
As Peter explained, people
are most at risk when
modifying, installing or removing
circuits or when faultfinding on
live equipment. Staff were given
safety tips and instructions to
enable them to avoid risks from
electricity, including:
n Assess the risks and ensure
n
n
n
n
n
n
First UNOR of the week award winners: Bill Siret, B462 Waste Operations Charge Hand; Kathleen Stevenson,
Harwell Head of Safety and Environment; Helen Locke, B462 Safety Manager
that these are As Low as
Reasonably Practicable
(ALARP)
Before authorising work on
an electrical system, ensure
that it is properly isolated,
locked off, proved dead
Those carrying out the work
should be appropriately
qualified
Always use the correct tools,
leaving the job safe and tidy,
checking work is finished
properly and returning the
electrical system to service
safely
When faultfinding check that
live terminals are shrouded
or clearly marked
When live testing make sure
barriers and warning notices
are in place
Check designs for
appropriate insulation and
earthing
“Electricity can kill,” said
Allen Edwards, Head of Safety
at Culham. “Many deaths and
injuries arise from not following
procedures, using unsuitable
equipment, or lack of training
and preparation. When you
work with electricity, it is
important to ‘Always think
before you act.’”
November 2007 UKAEATODAY
Culham
n
5
Educational programme n IoP award n Annual report n York festival
Fusion on the curriculum
Medal awarded
for distinguished
research
Jack Connor, Head of the Theory and Modelling
Department at Culham Science Centre, has been
awarded the Payne-Gaposchkin Medal for
distinguished research in plasma, solar or space
physics by the Institute of Physics. The award
was given for his seminal theoretical contributions
to magnetically-confined fusion energy research.
Influential
Steve Lisgo by the MAST fusion machine with students visiting from Belgium
For an increasing number of students beginning new
terms at schools, colleges and universities, a visit to the
fusion experimental facilities at Culham will be part of
their studies.
Culham’s extensive educational programme invites
groups of students to learn about fusion and tour MAST
and JET. The majority of visits are from A level or
equivalent physics groups and are closely matched to the
curriculum via a visit workbook.
Workbooks are sent to each student, providing details
of what the visit will entail and pre and post visit work, to
link the physics undertaken at Culham to that being
taught in the classroom. The outreach programme also
arranges for scientists and engineers to visit schools to
give talks and demonstrations on fusion science.
Last year over a thousand students visited Culham,
including many from Denmark, the Netherlands and
Belgium, as well as the UK. A further 1,500 attended talks
at their schools and colleges. Overall student numbers are
expected to increase in 2007/08 with the educational
programme being extended to 9-11 year olds with the
Sun Dome activity.
Chris Warrick, Education Outreach Manager at Culham
is pleased with the popularity of the programme. “The
visits are greatly appreciated by teachers and students
alike – and many schools book for a repeat visit. To make
this all possible, we are greatly indebted to all the guides
on MAST and JET who give up their time to escort school
groups.”
Visits to Culham for this academic year (2007/08) are
already fully booked until May 2008. If you know a school
that might like to visit – or are interested in helping by
being a guide, please contact Chris Warrick
[email protected] (723 6647).
Fusion annual
report published
BA Science Festival
Fusion featured prominently among
the varied programme of events at
this year’s BA Science Festival, held
in York in September.
UKAEA Culham Director Chris
Llewellyn Smith participated as a
panel member in a two-hour energy
debate in the main lecture theatre
with Professor Richard Clegg,
Director of Dalton Nuclear Institute
and Steven Harrison of coal mining
firm H.J. Banks. The debate focused
on areas including fossil fuels,
nuclear power, renewables and future
technologies such as fusion. The
panel answered topics on a variety of
issues put to them by the audience.
“The audience had a good appreciation of the need for increased
investment in a wide ranging energy
R&D portfolio, which must include
fusion,” said Chris Llewellyn Smith.
Visitors learn more about fusion from the
Fusion Expo
Interest
The Sun Dome was another of the
highlights of the school’s programme
with the Culham PR team carrying
out over 17 shows. The activity
attracted interest from teachers,
journalists, festival organisers and
local radio with Susan Hayward and
Nick Holloway interviewed by BBC
Radio York.
Throughout the week, there were
opportunities for people to learn
about fusion as a future energy
source. EFDA’s ‘Fusion Expo’
roadshow from Italy was on permanent display, allowing visitors to view
and interact with the exhibits about
the science of fusion, JET and ITER.
There was also a talk on fusion energy
from staff from York University.
Part of the citation reads, “Dr Connor is one of
the world’s leading and most influential plasma
theorists. His work, based on a powerful
combination of mathematics and physical
insight, has been of crucial significance in the
progress of nuclear fusion as a future viable
energy source.”
Commenting on the importance of Jack’s work
and the award. UKAEA Culham Director Chris
Llewellyn Smith said, “This award is a long
overdue recognition of
Jack’s many seminal
contributions to
fusion. The citation
rightly highlights the
discovery (with
Bickerton and Taylor)
of the so-called
‘bootstrap current’
which is the basis for
all modern tokamaks,
including ITER, and
will be key to making
fusion economically
Jack Connor
viable.”
Susan Hayward and Nick Holloway of
Culham Public Relations are interviewed by
BBC Radio York
This year’s UKAEA
Fusion Association
annual report has just
been released.
The report is
designed to inform all
external stakeholders –
including EURATOM,
EPSRC and local
councillors – of the
broad range of work
carried out over the
last financial year in
areas such as JET and MAST experimental
campaigns, theory and modelling, materials
research, ITER systems and Industry.
For the second year, the report is
supplemented with staff profiles, providing a
personal view of a range of the work
undertaken on site.
Commenting on the report, UKAEA Culham
Director Chris Llewellyn Smith said, “The report
describes steady and impressive progress on the
wide range of work at Culham, all of which is
focused on developing fusion as an environmentally
responsible source of essentially limitless energy.
The section in which staff ‘tell their stories’ is good
bedside reading, which provides insight into the
personalities of Culham’s staff and their work.”
Copies of the report are available from
Susan Hayward, 723 6363,
[email protected]
6
UKAEATODAY November 2007
Harwell
n
Campus tool n LETP n Coffee morning
IMAGES provides
essential land quality
information
Off to a good start
An innovative land quality information management tool is being
used in the development of Harwell’s Science and Innovation
Campus.
IMAGES (Information Management and Geographical Evaluation
System) enables Harwell’s Delicensing and Site Survey team to
identify and evaluate any potential environmental liabilities on the
site. The delicensing team consists of Angela Bartlett, Malcolm
Crook, Grant Baldwin and Susan Holdroyd. Technical Services
Group provides technical support to the system, which is also in
use at Dounreay, Winfrith and Windscale.
Since 1999, the IMAGES team at Harwell, currently consisting of
Angela Bartlett and Malcolm Crook (pictured below) have been
collecting, collating and evaluating land quality information about
UKAEA land at Harwell. The total area involved, which will include
non-designated land outside the main fenced site, the North Gate
Area and Eastern Area facilities, is around 150 hectares (370 acres).
Land quality data and reports for each area were extracted from
IMAGES and compiled by Amy Cunningham in early 2007. The
information provided will be used both by the Joint Venture
involved in the development of the campus, along with lawyers,
environmental consultants and others.
“Recording land quality information in IMAGES as the work
progresses provides significant time savings, especially when we
are asked to supply knowledge of such a large area of the site,”
said Angela Bartlett. “We couldn’t offer the service we do without
it.”
Getting shirty for charity
Staff in Building 220 held a coffee morning in aid of Macmillan
Cancer Support at the end of September. With the welcome
support of local businesses, the event raised some £425, which
will go towards Oxfordshire Macmillan Nurses. A loud shirt
competition helped to boost the funds collected and Terry Sexon
was judged the winner.
“The charity has personal
meaning to those in B220, as
one of our employees John
Henley died of cancer last
year,” said Lesley Cox.
Loud shirt winner Terry Sexon (right)
with Alec Inns of B220
After a successful commissioning phase, the programme of work to immobilise sludge from Harwell’s
Liquid Effluent Treatment Plant (LETP) is making excellent progress.
The remobilisation plant enables radioactive sludges – the legacy of various experimental research
and development projects dating back 20 years – to be retrieved and pumped to the LETP waste
encapsulation plant. There they are immobilised in cement and placed in drums for long-term storage.
Active commissioning of the remobilisation plant was completed when the first tank of sludge was
emptied and rinsed in April. It then entered a period of planned maintenance while the active
commissioning report was written and approved. Since then, a further 11 drums have been
encapsulated, bringing the total to 33 – already halfway to the targeted number for the year.
“Commissioning involved lowering stirrers into the sludge and carefully re-mobilising it to ensure
that a good homogenous mix is obtained,” explained Plant Manager Gareth Thomas.
“Getting a good mix is essential for accurate characterisation of the waste for future disposal. The
quality of the mixing and the analytical
characterisation will hopefully have the
added advantage of showing that the
cemented waste can be disposed of as low
level waste rather than intermediate level
waste. This has a significant long-term
benefit to national storage resources.”
After remobilisation, the homogenised
sludge is pumped across to the
encapsulation plant – 260 litres at a time –
ready for cementing in a drum.
Comprehensive
Commissioning is a comprehensive process,
involving the thorough checking of all pumps,
pipes, valves and instrumentation, to make
sure they work as intended, with no leaks in
the system.
“During this phase, we discovered a
potential problem with splashing near the
bottom of the tank. The LETP team were
able to resolve this, demonstrating great
initiative and inventiveness. They
successfully developed and tested low level
mixers to overcome the difficulty and these
mixers are now used to re-mobilise the
remaining ‘heel’ of sludge in the tank,” said
Gareth.
“The team have worked hard to overcome
practical challenges to get to this point. The
fact that, despite having to reduce the size
of the team, we’re currently running to plan
is an achievement they should be proud of,”
he added.
November 2007 UKAEATODAY
Harwell
n
7
End of era n Football sponsorship
Head of Site retires
John Wilkins, Head of Site at Harwell since 1998,
retired at the end of September after almost 33
years with UKAEA.
In an entertaining retirement presentation hosted
by Stephen White, colleagues past and present
heard something of John’s long career.
John joined UKAEA at Harwell on 1 October
1974 as a Senior Scientific Officer, after taking a
PhD at Reading University. From 1974 to 1985 he
specialised in work on plutonium processes, waste
management and waste disposal studies. He
became head of the Chemistry Division in 1986
and between 1987 and 1996 managed various
groups, including waste management, active facilities and waste operations at Harwell and Winfrith.
Sundial
After a spell at Dounreay leading a safety management improvement project, he returned to Harwell
in 1998 as Head of Site, taking the lead on the site
restoration programme.
Guest speakers who attended the retirement
presentation included Professor Rice from
Reading University, Stan Gordelier former
UKAEA Southern Director, Terry Fraser of the
Local Stakeholder Group and UKAEA CEO
Norman Harrison.
To mark the occasion, John was presented with a
sundial designed and built by staff and contractors
based at Harwell, an engraved gold watch, a watercolour (presented by B220 staff) and a photograph
album.
“I would like to thank everyone at Harwell for
all their support and friendship,” said John. “I very
much regret the current uncertainties but I am sure
that the Harwell team will move forward successfully under the new management. I look forward to
hearing of future progress on safety improvement,
decommissioning, waste management and campus
development.”
John will spend his retirement with his wife
Beti, pursuing his hobbies of gardening, railway
engines, philately and travel.
Winfrith
n
SGHWR cluster role
A lift for
clean-up project
Winfrith’s SGHWR cluster loop room has been successfully
de-planted and cleaned by a team of Cape and NUKEM
personnel, led by UKAEA manager Tony Smith. The project
included a number of unusual and demanding lifts.
Work on the project began with the erection of scaffolding
to provide access to the tightly packed plant. Once a small
bore pipe and minor plant were removed, the team were able
to undertake more major plant removal.
The team executed a number of unique and well planned
lifts as part of the
programme of work. The
task was difficult as they
had to lift and move plant
weighing up to 8 tonnes in
very cramped and confined
conditions. This was
successfully achieved,
thanks to good team work.
The vacant room has now
been resealed and will
undergo transformation at a
later date to become part of
Cluster loop room before the clean-up
the core processing facility.
John and Beti Wilkins with Stephen White (left)
After de-planting
Staff praised
for commitment
John Wilkins, friends and colleagues admire the designer sundial presented to him
Grove Challengers FC
Grove Challengers under 9 team
started the football season
wearing new kit, thanks to a
donation from UKAEA Harwell.
“They look really smart in
their new kit and have made an
excellent start to their first
season in the Oxford Mail
League. They are currently top
of the league,” said Harwell’s
Debbie Hoye, whose son plays
in the team. “Many thanks for
all your help.”
UKAEA staff at Harwell and Winfrith have been praised for the
committed and tenacious way in which they are facing up to
difficult times.
A combination of changes needed to fit Harwell and Winfrith
for their coming cluster role as contractors, plus the expected
funding limits at those sites, resulted in an invitation to staff to
apply for early release in August. A further invitation was
issued in mid-October when all staff at the sites were told the
likely future requirement for posts in their area of work.
Although the surplus of jobs going into 2008/9 is likely to be
lower than the original estimate of 200, there may still be a need
for compulsory redundancies.
Alan Neal, Head of Site for Harwell following John
Wilkins’s retirement and Andy Staples, as the new Head of Site
for Winfrith, recognised it was a tough time. “Formation of
RSRL, on its own, is challenging; managing a major funding
cut is also challenging; dealing with both challenges at the same
time is putting a major strain on our staff. We have therefore
set up special arrangements for staff to have access to an
outplacement company. This is in addition to existing support
from our Occupational Health and counselling services, who
can help with stress and other factors.” said Alan.
“I do regret the position we are facing but I have tremendous
admiration for the way in which staff are nonetheless carrying
on their work and achieving successes every day. Andy and I
are likewise grateful to the Trade Union representatives for
their constructive approach to the current arrangements.”
8
UKAEATODAY November 2007
Dounreay
n
Indenture ceremony n MTR fuel pond
Dounreay apprentices
receive their certificates
This year’s Dounreay
apprentices’ indenture
ceremony took place on 21
September in the Pentland
Hotel. Ten apprentices, from
UKAEA and Johnson Controls
received certificates from John
Thurso MP, the guest speaker.
“I am very pleased to share
in this celebration of your
success,” he told the
apprentices. “You have all
earned your certificates. For
some of you this will be the
start of a career in the
decommissioning industry. You
are part of the engine that will
drive us forward to a bright and
prosperous future.”
Brief résumé
Award winners and presenters: from back row (l to r) Ewan Macmillan,
Brad Smith, Lorna Macmillan, Mark Mackay, Neil Brims
UKAEA Apprentice Manager
Jim Swan gave a brief résumé
of each apprentice as they
received their certificate.
Two new awards were
presented this year. The Lachie
Macmillan Memorial Trophy for
Most Improved Apprentice was
awarded to fourth year
apprentice Neil Brims by Mr
and Mrs Macmillan. The
Apprentices; from back row (l to r) Michael, McGettigan, Kevin Macleod,
David McArthur, Paul Arrowsmith, Graeme Cormack, Kevin Hamilton,
Michael Henderson, Lee Rainford, guest speaker John Thurso MP, David
Miller, James Sinclair.
Dounreay Director’s Trophy for
the Best Overall Apprentice
went to third year apprentice
Mark Mackay, presented by
Dounreay’s Decommissioning
Manager Brad Smith.
The apprentices also
donated a cheque for £500 to
the Lachie Macmillan
Memorial Fund, money they
had raised through their
annual sponsored walk. The
Memorial Fund is raising
funds to buy a transport
monitor for Raigmore
Hospital.
A first at Dounreay
Dounreay has achieved another important milestone in
its decommissioning programme, with the draining of
the Dounreay Materials Test Reactor fuel pond.
The 17 foot deep, stainless steel-clad fuel pond is the
first on the site to be completely drained for decommissioning. Between 1964 and 2001, it was used for
storage of fuel elements for materials test reactors from
around the world.
Pond containment
Preparation works involved the removal of the fuel
storage racks, and surveys of the pond and surrounding
area. The internal survey revealed an irradiated fuel
tube, which was removed and transported to the postirradiation examination facility for storage. The rest of
the installed equipment and other loose debris stored in
the pond were also removed.
For the next phase, a containment tent was erected
over the pond to prevent any risk of spreading contamination. The pond water was filtered to remove silt-like
material, before being discharged to the low-level
liquid effluent treatment plant. Workers then applied a
strippable coating to the sides and floor of the pond to
minimise the potential for airborne contamination.
Area survey
Early in September, health physics surveyors were able
to enter the pond to carry out an area survey, followed
by operators who carried out further clean-up work.
The removal of the pond liquor was completed
earlier than expected, with an impeccable safety record.
“Over a thousand individual respirator entries to the
pond area were needed to reach this stage in its decommissioning, and this has been achieved without any
significant radiological intake,” explained Charlie
Fowler, Dounreay’s Decommissioning Project
Manager for the DMTR area.
“No Lost Time Accidents have occurred for over
3,500 days and credit for this safe delivery is due to the
diligence applied by the DMTR area supervisors and
workforce.”
Decontamination work
Final decommissioning work is expected to be
complete by the end of this financial year. This includes
the removal of the pond bridge and rails, and the pond
filtration system. The team will then cut up and remove
the stainless steel pond liner, leaving a clean pond which
can be in-filled at a future date.
November 2007 UKAEATODAY
Dounreay
n
Casualties Network n Particles proposal n Scout donations
High viz donation to
role play organisation
Dounreay Communities Fund
has donated new high visibility
vests and hard hats to Scottish
Casualties Network.
The voluntary organisation
provides skilled casualty
simulation services throughout
Scotland to groups such as
mountain rescue teams and
hospitals, who use such
casualties for training purposes.
David Bertram (Chairman), Karen McLean and Joan Bazell receive hats and high visibility jackets from Marie Mackay
of Dounreay Communities Fund
Scout
groups
benefit
Two local scout groups
have benefited from
Dounreay Communities
Fund. First Thurso Scout
Group received a
donation of £200 towards
the cost of
refurbishments to the
scout hall at Riverside,
Thurso. The hall is used
by 1st Thurso Beavers,
Cubs and Scouts plus
other local groups.
Second Thurso Scout
Group kindly allowed the
Viewfirth demolition
project team to use their
facilities during the
demolition work. As a
thank-you for their
generosity, the project
team and Dounreay
Communities Fund each
donated £100.
9
First Thurso Scout Group
Second Thurso Scout Group
Plan for quicker particle
clean-up proposed
The clean-up of radioactive particles offshore could be
substantially complete within seven years, if UKAEA’s
recommended way forward is accepted, it was announced in
October. Onshore monitoring, with removal of detected
particles, would continue for longer.
Following a review of all the information gained – from public
consultation, studies, various test and trials and independent
expert reports, plus new knowledge from improvements in
monitoring technologies and offshore mapping surveys –
UKAEA believes an environmentally and publicly acceptable
clean-up could be achieved within this timescale.
The main points of the draft recommendation are:
• Over the next three summers, remotely-operated vehicle(s)
would scour an area of seabed equivalent to 600,000m2 (60
football pitches) where the most hazardous particles are
located.
• The fourth summer of monitoring and recovery would be
integrated with the remediation of the old diffuser with a
further three summers for re-checking and recovery.
Progressive clean-up of this area should reduce and eventually eliminate the supply of the pollution to the beaches.
• Onshore monitoring and recovery would continue until the
seabed clean-up has been demonstrated to be effective, as
agreed with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and
the relevant landowner.
• The cost of monitoring and recovery both onshore and
offshore over this seven year period has been estimated at
in the region of £18-25million. Offshore trials of remote
recovery equipment at the end of 2007 should allow this
estimate to be improved.
Sandside Estate which owns the affected Sandside Bay beach
has welcomed UKAEA’s draft recommendation.
“Co-operation between Dounreay and Sandside in recent
times has permitted the exchange of detailed information,”
said Geoffrey Minter of Sandside Estate. “The recent seabed
survey has for the first time proved the prediction that many
more radioactive particles are on their way to Sandside. … the
problem will not go away by itself … I am now confident that
something will be done and there are clear signals that the
issue is beginning to receive the attention it deserves.”
Phil Cartwright, Contaminated Land and Particles Manager
added, “There is a far greater understanding of the extent of
particle contamination now … In particular the co-operation of
Sandside Estate and discussion with their experts over the
past 18 months has aided this process.”
“We do recognise that the removal of all particles from the
environment is not going to be possible. Therefore the recovery
strategy has to be considered in conjunction with the
information on health effects in relation to particle activity
ranges. The preliminary recommendation, identified from the
best practical environmental option process, provides a good
opportunity to move forward with something that is broadly
acceptable to everyone.”
Concluding, Simon Middlemas, Dounreay Director said, “I
would like to stress that this is a preliminary recommendation
and we have invited further public comment before we review
and agree on how to take this forward with the key agencies
and affected land owners.”
The final stage of the consultation allows members of the
public to feedback their views which will be considered by
UKAEA before producing their final recommendation to SEPA.
10
Windscale
UKAEATODAY November 2007
n
Business qualification n Sharing best practice n GENII n Golf links
NVQ
success
for Sally
Congratulations to Sally
Pritt, a trainee in the WAGR
Administration team, who
recently passed the Level 2
NVQ in Business
Administration.
Delighted
Alison Harrison who heads
up the Administration Team
said, “We’re all delighted
for Sally who joined UKAEA
in early 2006, as she has
been working hard to
complete this course
alongside her everyday
work and looking after her
young son, Joe.”
Sally Pritt
Windscale to Winfrith
Two members of the Windscale
Piles Decommissioning team
recently visited the Winfrith
site to discuss decommissioning work being carried out on
the Steam Generated Heavy
Water Reactor (SGHWR) air
pump cells.
Tony Carrigan, the Piles
Engineering Manager, and
Rory Yardley, Lead Project
Engineer were keen to determine whether any procedures at
Winfrith could be applied to a
similar project at Windscale.
The dismantling of the West
Air Inlet Duct (WAID) in the
Pile 1 Facility represents a
significant stage in Windscale’s
Decommissioning Programme.
The project team need to clear
the Pile 1 building in preparation for the installation of new
infrastructure, required to
remove fuel and isotopes from
the reactor.
Dismantling
The water duct – a 2,000 tonne
reinforced concrete structure –
was used to feed air coolant
into the Pile 1 core. The duct’s
inner surfaces became contaminated when the reactor was
flooded with water, to put out
the core fire in 1957. The
project involves systematically
dismantling the structure,
separating clean and contaminated concrete for appropriate
disposal or re-use.
The decommissioning of the
Winfrith SGHWR air pump cell
– a 450 tonne reinforced
concrete structure – has been a
great success. Using techniques
similar to those envisaged for
Windscale’s West Air Inlet
Duct, the team has so far
managed to remove 75% of the
concrete safely and efficiently.
The cell structure has been
cut into large blocks, using
diamond wire saws, and moved
to a containment area, where
one side was shot-blasted to
remove radioactive contamination.
“Whilst the Windscale West
Air Inlet Duct and its dismantling is significantly different to
the Winfrith air pump cells,”
said Tony Carrigan, “there are
important lessons to be learned
in terms of engineering
techniques, safe systems of
work, planned timescales,
manning
levels,
lifting,
handling and contract strategy.”
As a result of the Winfrith
Site visit, the SGHWR team
has offered to help and advise
the Windscale Piles team
throughout the project in an
attempt to maximise on
UKAEA’s success in this field
of decommissioning. Tony and
Rory thanked their Winfrith
counterparts, Kevin McIntyre
and Alan Webb, for their assistance so far, and are looking
forward to working together
over the next few months.
A chance
to meet
The Windscale
Communications team
manned a stand at two
recent GENII apprentice
introduction evenings,
aimed at the new intake of
apprentices.
Training facility
The apprentices were able
to meet the tutors and
employers who may offer
them work placements
during their future training,
and to see the training
facility at Sellafield.
This is the first time that
potential employers from
the nuclear and non-nuclear
sector have been invited to
attend the induction
evenings.
Enthusiastic
The Communications team
found it interesting to meet
and speak to the
apprentices about the
industry and some of the
projects that Windscale are
involved in. The apprentices
were enthusiastic and
welcomed the chance to
talk to representatives from
large Cumbrian firms.
Windscale have an
excellent relationship with
GENII. Head of Site Peter
Mann is a member of the
GENII Board and work
placements for apprentices
have been provided at
Windscale in conjunction
with Johnson Controls, the
Site’s Facilities
Management Contractor.
Lifting concrete blocks at Winfrith, after diamond sawing
Golfing extravaganza
A number of golf tournaments involving
staff from UKAEA and associated companies have taken place in Cumbria recently.
UKAEA sponsored a team in the annual
BAE Systems Charity Challenge held at
Ulverston Golf Course in August. David
Edwards captained the team of Tony Bishop
BAE Systems Charity Challenge (l to r) Ian Tyson,
John Winder, Mel Walker and Dave English of
Nexia Solutions
(UKAEA), Dave English and Mel Walker
(Nexia Solutions). Despite some good golf,
none of the team members won prizes in the
main competition but fared better in the raffle.
To their credit, Mel and Tony were contenders
in the longest drive at two of the holes. Captain
David Edwards said, “The main charity was
Macmillan and, together with the raffle and an
auction, should raise about a £1000.”
Tournament
Another fun charity event organised by
Morson Group took place at Eskdale Golf
Club, where Team GB triumphed over
Team USA by 13-8 in a Ryder Cup-style
tournament. Captain of the GB team was
Mark Dixon of the NDA, and the USA
team was led by Ged Mason, CEO of
Morson. The event raised money for
Wasdale Mountain Rescue, and UKAEA
made a donation towards the occasion,
helping towards the total of around £2,500.
Windscale’s UKAEA annual golf tournament was held at Seascale Golf Club in
September. This was the 16th year it has
been held and it continues to enjoy strong
support, with around 50 golfers taking part,
competing for a number of individual and
team prizes.
Morson Golf championship: Team GB and Team
USA
Windscale’s Communications
Manager Fee Wilson with Daniel
Buchanan, one of the new
GENII apprentices
November 2007 UKAEATODAY
11
Website of the Month
Milestones
A climate
of change
Congratulations to those
UKAEA staff celebrating
career milestones this month.
40 years and over
John Harris • Dounreay
8/11/66
35 years and over
George Crawford • Culham 12/11/68
Norman Davies • Culham
01/11/70
George Johnson • Dounreay 06/11/72
30 years and over
Alan Dalziel • Culham
Alsie Macgregor • Dounreay
Alexander Mackay • Dounreay
Iain Cowie • Dounreay
04/11/74
04/11/74
18/11/74
28/11/77
Steven Maclean • Dounreay
Melanie Jefferies • Harwell
Bryan Ware • Winfrith
Donald Campbell • Dounreay
Jennifer Murray • Dounreay
Linda Harrison • Windscale
1
3
4
5
7
9
10
12
6
11
14
13
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
23
22
24
25
www.greenbang.com
01/11/82
01/11/82
08/11/82
15/11/82
29/11/82
29/11/82
Other green business websites you might find interesting include:
www.ethicalcorp.com
www.climatechangecorp.com
20 years
15 years
16/11/92
10 years
Terry Benest • Windscale
01/11/97
Donald McWilliam • Dounreay 03/11/97
Joseph Mackrell • Harwell 03/11/97
Michelle Skelland • Winfrith 18/11/97
Linda Bell • Dounreay
24/11/97
Andrew Malcolm • Dounreay24/11/97
Mike Rodgers • Winfrith
24/11/97
Please note that Milestones are
calculated on years of continuous
service.
Win £25 with our Big Prize Crossword
Send your completed entry to: Communications, UKAEA
Crossword, B521/G30, Harwell, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0RA.
Entries for the November 2007 crossword should arrive no
later than 8th January 2008.
Cryptic Clues
Across
1 & 5 Wake and spring to beat of requiem (7,5)
8
Japanese dish includes ingredient which gives US hiccups (5)
9
Not changing dress (7)
10
Where to get your oats? Snoop in sack (7)
11
Ancient tree (5)
12
Discarded handmade pot (6)
14
Finds cream cake in city den (6)
18
Cat running amok in church is a drawback (5)
20
Little devil moves and crashes (7)
22
Touch Ms Fitzgerald on the kneecap (7)
23
My turn to distribute cards - perfect (5)
24
Have a go at review (5)
25
Fantasised about red dame (7)
Jackie Wilkinson • Windscale 16/11/87
Phil Shannon • Harwell
30/11/87
Tony Wratten • Dounreay
2
8
Greenbang is an environmental and technological website with
a difference. It looks at the changes businesses need to make
to be more sustainable, rather than at our responsibilities as
individuals.
It includes contributions from a bunch of lively bloggers with
an interest in sustainability and environmental business issues,
including a few big names in journalism.
The section on climate change, for instance, includes a
piece on Marks &
Spencer’s first
eco-store, news
from a recent
solar energy
conference in
California and an
article by Nobel
chemistry prize
winner Paul
Crutzen, arguing
that biofuels may
be more harmful
to the
environment than
people imagine.
25 years
£25 Prize Crossword
Please remember that the Website of the Month feature
suggests websites you might like to access from your home
computer. If you are in doubt about which sites you are
pemitted to access in the workplace, please refer to the
UKAEA Internet policy.
Down
1
2
3
4 & 17
5
6
7
13
15
16
17
18
19
21
Hunt clear of stocking material (7)
Makes home first in New England suburb then Seattle (5)
Spit and concede at colour range (7)
Laze about - loud ring brings a loafer (6,6)
I hear it’s the principal state (5)
Horn dad blew in Welsh valley (7)
Mr Simpson wrote some classics? (5)
Turns to where M. Poirot ate shrimps (7)
Upset at hat fitting (7)
Whooshed and stole cattle (7)
See 4
Body right out of wood (5)
Evergreen singer of Moon River (5)
The best lotion (5)
Quick Clues
Across
The monthly newspaper for and about the
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
Editor : Sue Clark
e-mail: [email protected]
Articles can be freely reproduced provided
UKAEA TODAY is acknowledged as the source
Editorial Office
Communications,
UKAEA, Marshall Building (521)
Harwell, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0RA
Tel : 01235 435008 Fax : 01235 436865
Design : Hot Cross Design (01491 839505)
Copywriting : Blue2 (01235 862587)
Correspondents
Culham
Dounreay
Harwell
Warrington
Windscale
Susan Hayward : 01235 466363
Sue Thompson : 01847 806085
Angela Vincent : 01235 435234
John Anderson : 01925 287654
Fee Wilson : 01946 772954
Claire Tandy : 01946 772213
Winfrith
Emma Burwood : 01305 203107
Business Strategy
Bim Adesanya : 01235 435066
Finance & Commercial Lynn Leniewski : 01235 436892
MPED
Annabel Halfhead : 01235 435281
S&AD
Kirsten Johnson : 01847 806387
Burial music (7,5)
Oriental delicacy (5)
Work wear (7)
Horse’s feeder (7)
Tree (5)
Flung (6)
Confection (6)
Trap (5)
Collides (7)
Kneecap (7)
Utopian (5)
Composition (5)
Imagined (7)
Down
1
2
3
4 & 17
5
6
7
13
15
16
17
18
19
21
Mesh (7)
Bird dwellings (5)
Coloured arch (7)
Smooth charmer (6,6)
US state (5)
Valley in Wales (7)
Greek author (5)
Revolves (7)
Sink (7)
Swished (7)
See 4
Small wood (5)
Plant used at Christmas (5)
Elite (5)
September winner and solution
Copy Deadlines
Issue 95 December 2007
Issue 96 January/February 2008
Issue 97 March 2008
1&5
8
9
10
11
12
14
18
20
22
23
24
25
5th November 2007
8th January 2008
4th February 2008
The lucky winner is Alan Lawrence of Weymouth, retired from Winfrith.
Across; 1 & 5 Tracing paper, 8 Equip, 9 Dialled, 10 Cathode, 12 & 18d Eccles cakes,
14 Coasts, 18 Canto, 20 Operate, 22 Knotted, 23 Exist, 24 Sedan, 25 Coffins
Down; 1 Treacle, 2 Adult, 3 Improve, 4 Gadget, 5 Prang, 6 & 11 Palmers Green
7 Rodin, 13 Concord, 15 Oneself, 16 Siestas, 17 Nordic, 19 Often, 21 Alibi
UKAEATODAY November 2007
12
Out and About
Shedding pounds to gain pounds
A sponsored slim by a group of Dounreay staff, organised by the site’s Occupational Health
Department, raised a total of £2062.50 for The Anthony Nolan Trust. The cheque was presented to
representatives of the Trust during a recent trip to the site to recruit new donors.
Some of the Dounreay slimmers with representatives of the Trust (l to r): Mark Whale, Margaret Calder,
Janette Swanson, Mandy Swan, Jill Nicolson. Sitting are Lorraine Lannon with The Anthony Nolan
Trust representatives Angela MacVicar and Maxine Dadd.
On one of the few glorious days of
the summer, Sue Manhood from
Culham completed the 5km Race
for Life for Cancer Research in a
time of 25 minutes.
“It was a great achievement to
complete the event as I was
running for a friend who was
diagnosed with cancer in 2006,”
said Sue. “I was also really
pleased with my time, as due to an
injury I only ran my first 5k two
days before.”
Amongst the grand total of £700
raised by Sue was a donation from
the Culham Sponsorship fund. Her
next goal is to run both a half and
full marathon in 2008.
Your own copy
Jumping into jeans
Staff at the Harwell and Culham sites dressed down on 5 October in aid of Jeans for Genes Day, the
national appeal to help children with genetic disorders.
By jumping into their jeans, Culham’s denim wearers collected £195 and Harwell’s building B392.10
raised £45 for charity with a further £25 donated from the Harwell Sponsorship Fund for an in-house
caption competition.
Culham
A summer cricketing event revealed a double connection with
UKAEA.
UKAEA once again sponsored the North Lancashire and
Cumbria Cricket League’s final of the Vigodny Cup this
summer. UKAEA was one of the first companies to put forward
a team for this competition and a member of UKAEA’s staff
recently discovered a family association with the event.
For the third year running, Fee Wilson, Windscale’s
Communication Manager, was asked to present the awards. It
was a double honour for Fee as she recently discovered that
her uncle had been captain of the first team to win the cup
back in 1948.
The final between Millom and Haverigg created a bit of a
dilemma for Fee as it was played between the town where she
was born and the village where she now lives!
Fee said, “Cumbrians and my family took their sport very
seriously and even though the Haverigg team were a very
young side, both teams played some exceptional cricket. I was
heartened at the level of sportsmanship on the pitch on the
day.”
Andrew Vigodny was part of a group of European
industrialists who came to West Cumbria in the 1940s at a
time when unrest was rife in Europe, and the economic future
of West Cumbria needed revitalising.
Victors Haverigg
CC and the
scorer, Lawrence
Lupton, with Fee
Wilson of
Windscale
Communications
Memories of summer
Sue Manhood holds her cheque outside Abingdon Sports Centre
Links with
the past
Harwell
This is your own personal copy of UKAEA TODAY.
Current and retired employees should send amendments
and changes of address to: Andrew Wise, UKAEA Today,
Marshall Building (521), Harwell, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0RA,
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