RWMAC's Advice to Ministers on the Restoration of the UKAEA Dounreay Nuclear Site

Annex C

Introduction

C.1 UKAEA has produced a suite of documents which address the overall task of restoring the Dounreay Site. Taken together the documents provide an "integrated decommissioning and waste management plan" for Dounreay - The Dounreay Site Restoration Plan (DSRP). The DSRP will be a "living" document, which presents the current UKAEA view of the programme and timetable for the restoration of the site.

C.2 The plan sets out the measures which will allow the major radiological hazards to be addressed within the first 25-30 years. The major restoration work will be implemented within some 50-60 years, twice as fast the present 100 years decommissioning programme. On completion of these works, the site will enter a period of surveillance monitoring together with maintenance for a period currently envisaged to extend to 300 years.

C.3 Potential risks to the programme, including the requirement for adequate resources, are set out together with measures to mitigate their effects.

Structure

C.4 The main components of The Plan are:

• Overview (Volume 1): provides an introduction and overview of the constituent parts of the Plan and a glossary of specialist terms (Appendix 1);
• Restoration (Volume 2): provides an assessment of the technical scope and schedule to complete the restoration and post-closure phases of the programme;
• Decommissioning (Volume 3): sets out the work necessary to dismantle plant, equipment, buildings and other structures and to route the waste to appropriate storage or treatment facilities;
• Radioactive Waste Management (Volume 4): provides an authoritative source of information on Dounreay wastes, identifies responsibilities and describes the strategies, waste routes and facilities for individual waste streams;
• Estate and Utilities (Volume 5): addresses the long-term infrastructure required to support the restoration of the site;
• Nuclear Fuels Inventory and Management (Volume 6): addresses the objective of managing fuels (including those from existing committed commercial contracts) held at Dounreay in accordance with the outcome of the PFR fuel options consultation ("Making the Right Choice");
• Contaminated Ground (Volume 7): addresses the restoration of contaminated ground on the Dounreay site, covering both radiological and non-radiological contamination;
• Programme (Volume 8): provides an overall programme for the restoration of the Dounreay site, synthesised from the multitude of individual programmes, so that interactions between facilities and with operations are recognised and managed and the availability of resources and observance of regulatory requirements can be taken into account.

Resource requirements

C.5 Achieving the timescales set out in the Plan requires resources in three major categories:

• funds necessary to implement the works within the schedule timescales;
• skilled people within UKAEA, particularly at Dounreay, and within the contracting organisations invited to bid for appropriate packages of work via competitive tender;
• a National Repository for storage or disposal of intermediate and high level wastes.

C.6 The availability of human resources is one of the key issues identified by UKAEA which affects its ability to discharge the DSRP. The location of Dounreay makes it more difficult to recruit and retain permanent skilled staff, with appropriate experience, than at other UK Nuclear Sites. A Dounreay human resources plan, in turn based on a comprehensive and stable financial plan, is an essential prerequisite.