Dounreay has awarded a major contract as the world’s deepest nuclear clean-up job gets underway.

Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd (DSRL), on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, awarded the £7.5 million contract for “advanced transition works” at the 65 metre deep shaft and silo to Nuvia and its partner Graham Construction, through the site’s decommissioning framework following a competitive tendering process. Nuvia is an international nuclear engineering, project management, products and services contractor.

The work will include the rerouting of existing services as well as minor construction and demolition works, preparing the 2 waste facilities to be emptied of legacy higher activity waste.

 The shaft and silo contain solid waste and sludge which must be retrieved and repackaged for safe above-ground storage. I’m very pleased that we are one step closer to the clean up of these historic waste facilities through the award of this contract.

Physical work on site is expected to take place in late autumn 2020. In the meantime the company has been delivering activities remotely.

DSRL is the site licence company responsible for the clean-up and demolition of Britain’s former centre of fast reactor research and development. A wholly-owned subsidiary of the Cavendish Dounreay Partnership, it is funded by the NDA to deliver the site closure programme.