Dounreay trialling waste removal solutions for shaft and silo
DSRL staff have been carrying out trials offsite to develop the process that will remove waste from Dounreay’s shaft and silo.
The trials will help to clarify the design of the waste retrieval process, and ensure that all aspects of the process are considered.
The process being trialled takes the raw waste (simulated sludge and waste from the local recycling centre) and processes it through size reduction, segregation/sorting and processing/packaging systems in order to produce a suitable final waste package.
The team have re-used redundant equipment from previous trials, and have borrowed equipment from across the NDA estate to use in the trials, to keep the costs to a minimum.
The team have also carried out waste shredding trials to assist the Berkeley active waste vaults retrieval project. The DSRL team, led by design engineer Andrew Polson and supported by project engineer Jim Thomson, are leading the trials programme at a facility in nearby Janetstown with local company, JGC, providing fabrication and operator support.
Andrew said:
The trials have already proved to be worthwhile and have provided invaluable information to assist the design.
Methods of waste treatment originally planned have proved to be unsuccessful and the trials work has enabled us to develop effective solutions.