Karen Wheeler will oversee RWM’s radioactive waste management services and the delivery of a long-term solution for the UK’s higher activity radioactive waste. Karen Wheeler‘s previous full time role was Director General Border Delivery Group, responsible for leading the cross government work to prepare the UK border for Brexit. She has also been a Non-Executive Director on the RWM Board since September 2018. Karen’s appointment follows current RWM Managing Director, Bruce McKirdy’s decision to retire. She will take up position from 1 February 2020.

NDA 17th Jan 2020 read more »

Britain’s most hazardous nuclear building has moved a step closer to being decommissioned. Work has begun to install the second of three emptying machines at Sellafield’s Magnox Swarf Storage Silo. The first piece of the 350-tonne machine – a transfer tunnel – was lifted into the building last month. The silo contains an estimated 60,000 items of intermediate level nuclear waste in 22 chambers.

Carlisle News and Star 15th Jan 2020 read more »

All Together Cumbria, a community interest company and social enterprise, will become the digital gateway for all Sellafield Ltd career opportunities. On average, Sellafield Ltd and its supply chain recruits approximately 750 roles annually. The plan is to ensure at least 500 roles are recruited through All Together Cumbria within the next 18 months. This includes apprenticeships and graduate roles. The company was formed a couple of year ago to provide a more effective and efficient approach towards maximising the benefit of current and future employment in the local community.

NDA 15th Jan 2020 read more »

A NUCLEAR worker was taken to hospital after suffering chemical burns in an incident at Sellafield. The worker was treated for chemical burns to the arms and hands, after coming into contact with an acid/water mixture while carrying out routine work at the Cumbrian plant. The casualty was treated on site before being transferred to hospital. A spokesman for Sellafield Ltd said: “The event has been reported as a ‘dangerous occurrence’ under the RIDDOR regulations. “The incident did not involve any nuclear or radiological materials.

Carlisle News & Star 14th Jan 2020 read more »

The water supply from Ennerdale has stopped ahead of the pipeline being built, West Cumbrian’s supply of fresh water is being supplemented by boreholes just one mile from Sellafield. Sellafield is still abstracting water from the river Ehen (along with Wastwater, the river Calder etc etc). Sounds crazy? It is.

Radiation Free Lakeland 13th Jan 2020 read more »

Researchers from Sussex University, alongside colleagues from Université de Toulouse and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, have come up with a solution that could help address the problems associated with DU. They found that an organometallic molecule based on depleted uranium could catalyse the addition of a molecule of hydrogen to the carbon-carbon double bond in ethylene (an alkene) to create ethane (an alkane), which in turn can be used to create a number of useful compounds including ethanol. The work is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

The Engineer 13th Jan 2020 read more »

As another signal of its intent to continue evolving, RWM has appointed Andy Wong to the newly-created position of Director of Transformation. Andy Wong has significant experience leading organisational and cultural change programmes, having worked at the Olympic Delivery Authority, across the rail sector, and in other leading public bodies. He has been appointed to provide “leadership and vision for the RWM Transformation Programme to ensure transformation and organisational development objectives are met, to deliver demonstrable change and positive organisational culture.” With Ann McCall (RWM Siting Director) having left the organisation at Christmas, and current Managing Director Bruce McKirdy retiring at the end of March, Andy Wong will be supporting RWM’s new leadership to continue remodelling the organisation in preparation for inevitably-contentious waters, as the organisation enters into engagement with communities, anticipated during 2020.

GDF Watch 11th Jan 2020 read more »

Expectation is that 2020 will see the first visible ‘community’ steps in the revised GDF siting process. But what might those first steps look like, and what early hurdles will the siting process likely face? And how will the newly-elected Government, with a mandate for change, and a majority that’s likely to provide 5 years of political ‘stability’, impact on RWM and the siting process? There is some evidence to support RWM’s confidence that the first communities expressing initial interest in hosting a GDF will start coming forward during 2020. GDFWatch has been approached for advice by a number of local groups, but how many of these mature into more formal expressions of interest remains to be seen. This is perhaps the first key feature to note for 2020 — Attrition. The siting process is designed to encourage multiple initial enquiries, but then over time filter down to just one preferred site/host community. It is therefore inevitable, particularly in the early stages, that more communities will leave the process than remain in it. So expect a degree of churn and turnover.

GDF Watch 12th Jan 2020 read more »

2019 Inventory of UK Radioactive Waste published. The UK Radioactive Waste Inventory is the latest public record on sources, quantities and properties of radioactive waste and materials in the UK.

NDA 10th Jan 2020 read more »

The Inventory is essentially a huge dataset with information about all the radioactive waste and materials that we have in the UK, and that we estimate will arise in future. In addition to nuclear power stations, many important medical, industrial, research and defence activities also produce radioactive waste. We need the Inventory to understand how much waste there is and where it is located. We also need to understand what the waste is made from, including its physical, chemical and radiological characteristics. We can then use this information to plan safe and efficient ways to manage the waste and materials.

NDA 10th Jan 2020 read more »

Committee on Radioactive Waste Management framework document. This document sets out the broad framework within which the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) will operate.

CoRWM 10th Jan 2020 read more »

The NDA’s Draft Business Plan describes what the main activities will be across its estate over the next 3 years and what funding will be available. It provides a 20 year picture of strategic outcomes and significant milestones. The consultation on this Draft Business Plan starts on 23 December 2019 and closes on 14 February 2020.

MDA 23rd Dec 2019 read more »