A major project involving the UK’s Nuclear Waste Services (NWS), Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS) and Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS) to permanently dispose of more than 1,000 drums of waste, has been completed earlier than expected.

The project was an accumulation of eight years’ work and involved 11 consignments of low level radioactive waste, transported by rail from the NRS site at Winfrith in Dorset, to the Low Level Waste Repository in Cumbria for final disposal. All organisations involved are part of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) group, which is responsible for cleaning up the UK’s legacy nuclear sites safely, securely and cost effectively.

The waste originated from the Steam Generating Heavy Water Reactor at Winfrith, which shut down in 1990. The drums were initially characterised as intermediate level waste and put in interim storage in the Treated Radwaste Store (TRS) at Winfrith. However, after a period of time, which saw significant radioactive decay, and further detailed technical analysis by NWS, the waste was re-characterised as low-level waste. This allowed it to be disposed of at the Low-Level Waste Repository sooner than planned.

The drums have been disposed of utilising void space in Vault 8, optimising the use of the repository, and freeing up the Winfrith facility for alternative use or decommissioning. Final disposal of this waste has also removed the requirement for long-term storage saving money for the UK taxpayer. The initiative also made significant carbon emissions savings by safely transporting the waste sustainably by rail instead of road after using innovative solutions to adapt the containers for rail transportation.

Laura Street, Winfrith and Harwell Head of Waste at NRS said the retrieval operation of the drums from the store went really well. “We managed to improve our timings on each retrieval, meaning that the final drum was retrieved well ahead of schedule. The shipment of the drums by rail provided significant savings to the taxpayer and also saved 7502kg carbon emissions for each rail shipment compared to transporting these drums by road. This achievement takes us another step closer to completing our decommissioning mission and returning the site to heathland with public access.”

Howard Falconer, Head of Waste Services at NWS said seeing the final train arrive at the repository was “a proud moment and significant milestone” for the project. “It is the result of years of collaborative planning and preparation by Nuclear Waste Services, Nuclear Restoration Services, Nuclear Transport Solutions and our extensive supply chain partners involved. Planning and preparation were key to the success of this project with NWS staff working with Winfrith Site to explore alternatives to manage the waste more effectively.”

According to NTS CEO Seth Kybird: “This is what the NDA group does best – working together towards a shared goal and providing the best possible efficiencies. We’re proud to be the group’s logistics specialist and ensure the safe, secure and reliable transport of nuclear materials.”

The Low-Level Waste Repository in Cumbria is the UK’s primary low-level waste disposal facility. The NRS Winfrith site is located on an 84-hectare site in Dorset. It was a centre for nuclear research and development to enable vital research into reactor design. There have been nine experimental reactors on the site at various times, with only two remaining today; the Steam Generating Heavy Water Reactor (SGHWR) and Dragon, both now being decommissioned.

Image: Drums from the Treated Radwaste Store at Winfrith are disposed of in Vault 8 at the LLW Repository site (courtesy of NDA)