First nuclear waste containers from Dounreay, Scotland, reach permanent disposal
Almost 200 containers of low-level radioactive waste are being entombed in a purpose-built underground vault at the decommissioned nuclear power plant in Dounreay, Scotland.
The waste once formed part of the UK's experiment with fast breeder nuclear reactors, of which Dounreay was at the centre.
According to information published by the UK government on 4 February, low-level waste from the clean-out and dismantling of the site’s reactors, fuel plants and laboratories is being packed into drums, super-compacted into pucks and stacked inside containers that are filled with grout.
The containers are then moved to their final resting place in a "cavernous" underground vault, while some larger waste items go into the containers and are grouted alongside the pucks.
The containers are stacked four high and the spaces filled with grout before being covered by a steel reinforced concrete slab. This slab will become a floor to support more containers going to the vault for disposal.
Change of plan
The original plan to dispose of the waste was to half-fill the vault with almost 1,000 containers before entombing them in grout and covering with a reinforced concrete floor.
However, after re-evaluating their strategy, the project team at Nuclear Restoration Services concluded there were practical advantages by adopting a staged approach to carrying out the intermediate floor slab works.
The first stages are now complete, with 192 half-height ISO containers covering a fifth of the available floor-space being disposed of. The vault is one of two operational disposal facilities, with the other being used for low-level demolition waste.
