Lunch and Learn - Sellafield Decommissioning Opportunities

06 September 2018
Venue: Subsea UK, 30 Abercrombie Court, Westhill, AB32 6FE

This event has concluded. The presentation is available below.

Subsea UK has issued a call to action, urging supply chain companies to step forward with ideas and solutions that could support the decommissioning of the largest nuclear site in Europe.

The industry body has teamed up with Sellafield Ltd to run a ‘Game Changers’ workshop, inviting businesses across the UK to submit their ideas and technologies which could help increase productivity and reduce the costs and risks associated with the decommissioning of the 700 acre site in west Cumbria.

Sellafield is the most complex industrial site requiring remediation in Western Europe, comprising approximately 700 acres in west Cumbria. 

The decommissioning of the Sellafield site is anticipated to take over 100 years and cost more than £120bn, with operations facing complex challenges never encountered before and requiring investment in innovative technologies, concepts and methods.

Sellafield Ltd, are inviting proposals for ‘Game Changers’ – new ideas and technologies which can reduce costs, reduce risk and make operations safer whilst accelerating the safe delivery of decommissioning.

Due to the diverse operations performed at the Sellafield site, a wide range of challenges will need to be addressed. Through the Sellafield sponsored Game Changers Innovation Programme, businesses can assess funding and support to enable them to develop solutions to some of these challenges.

Decommissioning also presents opportunities for businesses operating outside of the nuclear sector, with genuine scope for technologies and techniques used in the subsea and oil and gas sectors to be translated across.

Presenting at the lunch will be Luke O’Brien, Technical Authority (Effluent and Environmental Chemistry) at the National Nuclear Laboratory, who will provide an overview of the clean out activities required when a nuclear plant reaches the end of its operational life.

The challenges linked to measurement and analysis of both chemical and radiochemical species at the Sellafield site will be highlighted by Mike Edmondson, Technical Leader at the National Nuclear Laboratory.

Alex Allen, Technical Lead for Sellafield Ltd, will also be outlining the challenges associated with condition monitoring and inspection of stored waste packages.