Orano wins decommissioning contract at Dounreay

Orano has been successful in securing a 1.5-year decommissioning contract at Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DRSL), the nuclear operator of the Dounreay facility in Scotland. The contract, subcontracted through Jacobs with a value of £2.7M, includes the development of the decommissioning plans for the Fast Reactor Fuel Reprocessing Plant (FRFRP), the Residue Recovery Plant (RRP) and the Evaporator Facility. Dounreay is one of Scotland’s most important decommissioning sites, representing, after Sellafield in North West England, some of the UK’s most significant decommissioning and environmental challenges.

As some of the most complex facilities on the site, DSRL is looking to accelerate the decommissioning of these plants with a partner who has directly relevant technical experience; experience that Orano has gained through the decommissioning its own fast reactor fuel reprocessing plant in France.

Furthermore, the decommissioning of these facilities will act as a flagship for further fuel reprocessing plant decommissioning in the UK, with FRFRP providing invaluable lessons learnt and engineering precedence for future decommissioning of similar facilities in the UK.

As part of the Jacobs-led Dounreay Waste Alliance with partners Jacobs, GDES and EDF Cyclife, Orano will be responsible for the overall project management, engineering management, and design and engineering services, which will not only develop the decommissioning plans but then take these through to scheme design. The scheme design stage will also see the Dounreay Waste Alliance author the decommissioning and environmental safety case, characterisation plans and waste management plans, which will include underpinning optioneering and design activities.

John Storer, Managing Director of Orano Limited stated that ‘Orano is proud to have been selected for the delivery of this nationally-important project at Dounreay. Bringing over 40 years of decommissioning experience to support the contract, our teams offer unique expertise that will help to shape and inform the future of fast reactor decommissioning in the UK.’