UK radioactive waste treatment and disposal services Tradebe Inutec is expected to be confirmed as a Winfrith Nuclear Site Licensee by mid-2018. Tradebe Inutec, based in Dorset processes a wide range of low-level radioactive waste (LLW) and will use its capability under its own nuclear site licence to establish a centre of excellence for the treatment of problematic and borderline intermediate-level waste (ILW).
As part of the site licensing, Tradebe Inutec said it “will take on additional land, enabling it to develop more flexible customer-led radioactive waste facilities”. The licence will also support the development of innovative treatment of complex inventories including problematic, borderline, orphan and high active wastes. Services will include supercompaction; combustibles; metals recycling and ILW sampling, analysis & characterisation.
Tradebe Inutec assisted with the treatment of fuel element debris (FED) waste at the UK’s former Bradwell nuclear plant. Some 65t of FED waste, mainly pieces of magnesium alloy cladding, was treated in an onsite ‘dissolution plant’ reducing the volume of the solid waste by more than 90%. More than half the FED waste at Bradwell was reclassified as LLW, in a first-of-a-kind collaboration between Tradebe Inutec, Magnox Ltd and the Low-Level Waste Repository Ltd (LLWR). In total, more than 140t of FED was sent to Tradebe Inutec as LLW for treatment and eventual disposal at LLWR saving around two years of dissolution operations. (Lean more in Bradwell: Leading the Way)
Tradebe provides environmental services in the USA, Europe (Spain, the UK and France) and the Middle East (Oman). Following the recent acquisitions completed in the USA, company revenues amount to around €500m ($579m).The firm employs over 2150 peple around the world.
Photo: Tradebe Inutec is expecting to receive a nuclear site licence for Winfrith by 2018
