Dounreay radiation vaults officially handed over
UNDERGROUND vaults which will store low level radioactive waste have been officially handed over to Dounreay operators.
Over 200 guests joined site staff for the official handover ceremony of the LLW vaults to Cavendish Dounreay Partnership and site licence company DSRL.
Irish firm Graham Construction completed the £13 million contract for the construction to the immediate east of the licensed site, where they excavated a total of 243,000 cubic metres of rock during construction of the two vaults.
“Without these new facilities, we could not complete the clean-up and closure of the site,” said Roger Hardy, chairman of Cavendish Dounreay Partnership and managing director of Cavendish Nuclear.
“So today’s handover is a major step forward in our work to decommission this site and return it to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in a condition that is safe for future generations,”
DSRL has planning consent to build up to six vaults, though it has previously indicated only three or four are likely to be built.
Subject to regulatory and other consents, the first containers of waste are due to be moved off the Dounreay site later this year, filled with grout and placed in the vaults.
Read more in Friday’s John O’ Groat Journal