Berkeley End State

Description

Berkeley End State

Shared by: dfhercbml

Tags

Berkeley, End, State

Stats

views:: 17
posted:: 2/23/2010
language:: English
pages:: 7

Public Domain

Document Sample

Site End States
End State Reconciliation Process;
Dounreay
EGR XX Issue 01
March 2008

DSG(2008)C172

Nuclear Decommissioning
Authority

Output from the Stakeholder
Consultation for the Site End State
for
Dounreay

Name Position

Prepared by Sara Johnston NDA End States Project Manager

Approved by Adrian Simper Strategy Manager

Page 1 of 7 Pages
Site End States
End State Reconciliation Process;
Dounreay
EGR XX Issue 01
March 2008

CONTENTS

Page
1. Introduction 3

2. The Site End State for Dounreay 4

3. Main References 7

The front cover shows a current view of Dounreay and an artist's impression of the End State from the
Site Lifetime Plan 2008

Page 2 of 7 Pages
Site End States
End State Reconciliation Process;
Dounreay
EGR XX Issue 01
March 2008

1. Introduction

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s (NDA) Strategy, published in 2006, required a
review of Site End States to be undertaken in consultation with Stakeholders.

To meet this objective, the NDA established a special project and Site Stakeholder
Groups were asked to consult their local communities on their preferred End State and
End Use for the sites. The Site Licence Companies were asked to submit a report
assessing the feasibility of and any consequences arising from, achieving the
communities’ preferred option.

All of this information was then subjected to a Reconciliation Process involving a wide
range of stakeholders. This was completed in March 2008 and this report describes the
process and presents the End State Proposal that was developed for the site at
Dounreay.

The data received from the Stakeholder Consultation and the Site Licence Companies
were reviewed by the NDA Site Programme Managers.

The End State options for each site were then considered against a series of national
and local feasibility criteria in a 'Mapping Report'. Each report was reviewed by
stakeholders, including the Regulators, Local Authorities, UK Government organisations
(including the Scottish Executive) and specialists from within the NDA.

For Dounreay, this was carried out at a 'Mapping Report' workshop, which covered the
Scottish sites and was held in Edinburgh on the 6th June 2007.

A further End States Workshop was held at NDA Headquarters in Cumbria in July 2007
to develop consistently worded End State proposals for the sites.

A 'Site Stakeholder Feedback' workshop covering the NDA’s Scottish sites was held in
Edinburgh in September 2007. At this workshop, the Dounreay Site Stakeholder Group
(DSG) agreed that subject to minor modifications, the final proposed End State for their
site was consistent with their preferred End State. These modifications have been
incorporated.

The Regulators, at a national level, have had an opportunity to provide further input
through a sub-group of the 'Senior Regulatory Forum'. Other feedback has also been
received on the proposals from Regulators and incorporated as appropriate.

Sites have developed Lifetime Plans for 2008 which incorporate the proposed End
States and take into account the levels of contamination on the individual sites.
Page 3 of 7 Pages
Site End States
End State Reconciliation Process;
Dounreay
EGR XX Issue 01
March 2008

With the completion of the Reconciliation Process, the NDA Board will be asked to
approve the proposed End States. They will then be published and will also be included
in the next NDA Draft Strategy, which will be the subject of public consultation.

2. The Site End State for Dounreay

Stakeholders’ preferred end uses are driven by economic regeneration, focussing on the
Caithness and North Sutherland Region rather than on the Dounreay site specifically.
The End State therefore focuses on maximum flexibility.

The End State differs from that published in the NDA 2006 Strategy in that an area of the
site would be delicensed before the Interim End Point (IEP - 2032 in the 2007 Lifetime
plan, and 2025 in the 2008 lifetime plan currently awaiting NDA approval). There would
be an estimated additional cost of £140M to the 2007 Lifetime plan to cover this and
additional cleanup of the remainder of the site to ensure the capability to fully delicense
at or before the year 2294., assuming the removal of conditioned ILW, and any
packaged nuclear material remaining on site.

The End State for the Dounreay Site will cover the Dounreay licensed site, the cliffs
between the licensed site and the sea, and the Liquid Effluent Discharge System.

The site will comprise two areas and these are identified as follows:

 It is anticipated that it would be practical to remediate the land on the south west of
the site to levels that would allow delicensing by the IEP, provided that this presents
value for money against an identified business need and does not present
unacceptable social and environmental consequences.

 It is anticipated that it would be practical to remediate the land on the rest of the site
to levels that would allow delicensing at or before 2294, (this is subject to Scottish
Government policy, as described below). The period beyond the Interim End Point
will provide an opportunity for reassurance monitoring to show the levels of risk
remain tolerable.

For both areas:

 Radioactive contamination will be reduced to a level which meets the criteria for
delicensing, based on “no danger” as established by the NII under the Nuclear
Installations Act 1965. Where any radioactive substances remain on site, the
Requirements of the Radioactive Substances Act will be applied. On this basis, the

Page 4 of 7 Pages
Site End States
End State Reconciliation Process;
Dounreay
EGR XX Issue 01
March 2008

site will be delicensed, supported by an environmental safety case accepted by the
NII and SEPA.

 Any non-radioactive contamination identified will be dealt with under the relevant
Contaminated Land Regulations to meet the requirement for the end use of the site
and the current use of adjacent land.

The physical state of the south west area of the licensed site at the Interim End Point is
assumed to be as follows:

 All structures removed to ground level, all drains surveyed and left in-situ if
uncontaminated, or if contaminated, supported by an environmental safety case
accepted by the regulators, and existing roads retained where practicable.
 Any contaminated foundation slabs, or where there is significant contamination below
slabs, will be broken up in-situ and soil excavated where it cannot meet the criteria for
delicensing. The contaminated concrete and soil will be disposed in accordance with
the applicable regulatory regime. Redundant non-hazardous cables and services will
be safely isolated and left in the ground.
 Surface water drains will be installed, where required, to suit the environment and
intended end use.
 The site will be landscaped to blend with the local environment.

Prior to demolition, opportunities for reuse of existing facilities will be considered. Each
opportunity will be assessed on the merits of an individual business case; where these
cannot be substantiated, the buildings will be demolished.

The physical state of the remainder of the licensed site is assumed to be as the south
west area of the site, with the following additional features:

 Areas of residual contamination will be controlled and stabilised to minimise
contamination dispersal. A range of approaches will be used, including caps and
engineered barriers, together with longer periods of institutional control. These areas
will benefit from an extended period of radioactive decay to demonstrate delicensing
criteria can be met.
 The licensed area will include a number of emptied historic waste disposal facilities
(the Shaft and LLW pits), as well as other below ground voids (at PFR and in the fuel
cycle area) which will have been backfilled with rubble/concrete, capped and
landscaped. The waste in Landfill 42 will be left in-situ to the extent determined by a
post-closure safety case and have been disposed of in accordance with the relevant

Page 5 of 7 Pages
Site End States
End State Reconciliation Process;
Dounreay
EGR XX Issue 01
March 2008

legislation. The physical state of Landfill 42 is assumed to be engineered for closure,
capped and landscaped.

The Liquid Effluent Discharge System will be isolated and the diffusers protected from
disturbance or inadvertent intrusion.

The particles BPEO has now been issued. Particles will be targeted for retrieval from the
main area of the plume where relevant particles are found. It is expected to take at least
three years to achieve the initial coverage, dependent on the remote recovery system
used followed by a similar period of time to demonstrate the desired clearance of
particles has been achieved. The offshore work will be supported by continued
monitoring of a number of local beaches until the effect of the offshore clean-up has
been satisfactorily demonstrated.

The physical state of NDA land outside of the licensed site will be addressed through the
NDA’s Property Management Strategy.

Vulcan is excluded from the NDA’s End State for Dounreay but it has been discussed
with the Ministry of Defence and Vulcan’s end state is expected to be consistent with the
Dounreay End State.

Clear preference has been expressed for early shrinking of the site boundary to release
land for alternative use, for example to support renewable energy development, as well
as show early tangible land restoration.

The Scottish Government's recent statement on Scottish policy for higher activity
radioactive wastes has significant implications for the End States of the NDA’s sites in
Scotland. The NDA will need to consider these further with the Scottish Government but
it would appear to require facilities for the storage of Scottish higher activity wastes to be
in place indefinitely. Facilities for bulk storage of such wastes (and remaining packaged
nuclear material) would require licensing under the Nuclear Installations Act and so sites
hosting these facilities, such as Dounreay, could not be fully de-licensed while such
stores exist.

The new LLW Disposal Facility may be included within a licensed area and the End
State for this facility will be determined by the relevant post-closure safety case as part of
the Integrated Site-Wide Post Closure Safety Case.

It is envisaged that any long term storage of conditioned ILW and any packaged nuclear
material will take place within a licensed area.

Page 6 of 7 Pages
Site End States
End State Reconciliation Process;
Dounreay
EGR XX Issue 01
March 2008

3. Main References

The following are the main reference documents produced as part of the Site End States
Consultation for Dounreay and in support of the Reconciliation Process Workshops and
will be made available from the NDA Web site (http://www.nda.gov.uk/). Many other
references were used in the consultation process which are too numerous to be made
available on-line but can be made available on request.

1. Letter from Alastair MacDonald (Dounreay Site Stakeholder Chairman) to Mr.
Farquhar (NDA Programme Director, Dounreay). Recommendation for the End
State of the Dounreay Site. 29th March 2007. Covering letter for: DSG Report
Reference DSG(2007)P039 & the Dounreay SSG Evidence Portfolio.

2. Recommendation for the End State of the Dounreay Site, March, 2007. Dounreay
Stakeholder Group. 64 pages. With summary by Alastair MacDonald, DSG
Chairman. DSG(2007)P039.

3. Determination of the Dounreay End State. Internal Stakeholder Panel Report. M
Egan (Quintessa) QRS-1324B-2, October 2006.

4. Determination of the Dounreay End State. Assessment of the End State Options.
M Egan, J Penfold, D Collier (Quintessa) QRS-1324B-1, October 2006.

5. Determination of the Dounreay End State. External Stakeholder Panel Report. J
Penfold (Quintessa) QRS-1324B-3, October 2006.

6. Dounreay End State Development Report SES(07)P03 Doug Graham, Suzanne
Fox, Sally Robertson (UKAEA), James Penfold (Quintessa). Supported by
Robert Scott, Terry Page (UKAEA), Mike Egan (Quintessa), David Collier
(Faulkland Associates). 235 pages. 30th March, 2007.

7. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) End States Reconciliation Process
2007. Mapping Report for Dounreay. AMEC Report 14312-TR-0004. Issue 03.
23/11/2007.

8. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) End States Reconciliation Process
2007. Report of the Mapping Review Workshop, 6th June 2007. Berkeley. AMEC
Report 14312-TR-0018. Issue 02. 21/07/07.

Note 1: Mapping reports were updated through the reconciliation process to include an Appendix on the
results of the Stage 3 Workshops. Therefore, in some cases, final versions of the Mapping Reports carry a
later date than the Stage 3 Workshop Reports.

Page 7 of 7 Pages