risk and hazard reduction and waste management working … · 2018. 7. 4. · risk and hazard...

Risk and Hazard Reduction and Waste Management Working Group

Minutes for the meeting held on Wednesday March 21st 2018 (Meeting #21)

Attendees Kelly Anderson NDA Dave Banks Copeland Borough Council Tony Bishop SL Thomas Dowd (Secretary) Raymond Gill Copeland Borough Council Kevin Gunston SL Brian Hough NDA Bob Jones Ponsonby Parish Council Peter Manning (Chair) Beckermet with Thornhill Parish Council Andy Pratt Copeland Borough Council Phil Reeve SL Byron Smith SL Stephen Tandy EA Petra Tjitske Kalshoven Paul Turner Cumbria County Council Martin Walkinshaw LLWR Ian Winchester Cumbria County Council (Resilience Unit) Apologies Bernard Kershaw Cumbria County Council (Resilience Unit) Carni McCarron-Holmes Allerdale Borough Council Heather Morrison Copeland Borough Council (Senior Development Management Officer) Mark Nicholson Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service Alan Smith Allerdale Borough Council Christine Smith Allerdale Borough Council Steve Smith Copeland Borough Council (Nuclear Projects Manager) Jane Tideswell Cumbria County Council (Resilience Unit) Felicity Wilson Cumbria County Council

Risk and Hazard Reduction and Waste Management Working Group, part of the West Cumbria Sites Stakeholder Group

Minutes for the meeting held on Wednesday March 21st

2018 (Meeting #21)

Page 2 of 14

1. Welcome and Introduction The Chair welcomed all to the meeting. Introductions occurred.

2. Review of Actions There were four outstanding actions:

20.1 The Secretary to contact the relevant bodies to discuss ways in which attendance issues might be overcome. The relevant conversations had been had. Action closed.

20.2 The Secretary to send out the draft plan for Working Group meeting topics for 2018. The draft engagement plan was sent out to all members on January 30th. Some feedback was received and has been taken on board. Action closed.

20.3 The Secretary to organise an update on the Old Sea Tanks and SIXEP Tanks. An update on the SIXEP Tanks has been organised for the meeting on September 19th. An update on the Old Sea Tanks is yet to be organised. The action remains open.

20.4 Brian Hough to raise the Working Group’s concerns regarding MOD fuel stored on the Sellafield site with BEIS. Brian Hough has raised the issue with BEIS, but is yet to receive a detailed response. The action remains open.

3. Legacy Ponds Update An update on the Sellafield legacy storage ponds (the Pile Fuel Storage Pond (PFSP) and the First

Generation Magnox Storage Pond (FGMSP)) was provided by Kevin Gunston (FGMSP Programme

Manager, Sellafield Ltd.), and Tony Bishop (PFSP Programme Manager, Sellafield Ltd.).

“Legacy Ponds” is the name of an Operating Unit (OU) within the Sellafield Ltd. corporate structure,

which encompasses PFSP and FGMSP. This OU was formed in July 2017 to encourage shared

learning and knowledge transfer between the two ponds. The Legacy Ponds OU falls within the

“Retrievals” value stream.

January 2018 saw PFSP achieve 5 years, and FGMSP 1.89 million hours worked, without a Lost Time

Accident (LTA).

3.1. Pile Fuel Storage Pond (PFSP) Tony Bishop gave a summary of what has been going on in PFSP over the last year or so. The work

can be divided into three categories:

1. removing solid items from the pond;

2. removing sludge from the pond; and

3. preparing the pond for its end state through dewatering and pond wall decontamination trials.

Removing solid items from the pond:

The second phase of intermediate level waste (ILW) solids exports from PFSP is currently in

progress.



2018 (Meeting #21)

Page 3 of 14

Typically these items are activated materials from reactors.

Items are transferred in shielded containers from PFSP to the Miscellaneous Beta-Gamma

Waste (MBGW) Store (MBGWS).

The characterisation of solid items has been greatly aided by the uses of cameras on

submersible Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs).

Once the bulk of the solid inventory has been exported, it is anticipated that micro-diggers

will be used to clear residual solid items from hard-to-reach places.

Removing sludge from the pond:

Sludge exists in PFSP from algae and from the corrosion of fuel.

This year there has been a continued export of sludge from PFSP to the Waste Encapsulation

Plant (WEP).

o Sludge in the pond is gathered into a “corral” area.

o From the corral, sludge is pumped to the Local Sludge Treatment Plant (LSTP) for

sentencing and thickening.

o The thickened sludge is then pumped to the Drum Filling Plant (DFP) where it is

consigned to drums.

o The drums of sludge are sent from the DFP to the WEP for encapsulation.

A knock-out pot is soon to be installed. This device will be used to filter debris out of sludge

before the sludge is exported. The debris (which will remain inside the knock-out pot until it

is emptied) will most likely be placed in a skip for later sorting and segregation operations.

In recent months, there have been significant challenges to pond visibility, arising as a

combination of seasonal algal blooms and of sludge being disturbed during skip washing

operations.

Preparing the pond for its end state through dewatering and pond wall decontamination trials:

A dewatering trial took place early in 2017, in which the pond level was dropped by 23 cm.

This exposed pond wall surfaces which had been in uninterrupted contact with pond water

for almost 70 years.

Samples were taken from these freshly exposed pond wall surfaces, and early signs suggest

that the seepage of contamination into the concrete is not as bad as had been first feared.

There will be another dewatering trial later this year, in which two of the bays at the edge of

the pond will be hydraulically separated from the main pond and fully dewatered. This piece

of work is known as the Bay Interim State Pilot (BISP).

A Building Movement Monitoring System (BMMS) will be installed in the pond as part of the

dewatering programme. This will be similar technology to that already deployed in the

Magnox Swarf Storage Silo (MSSS).

It is hoped that the pond will be dewatered by 2029.



2018 (Meeting #21)

Page 4 of 14

3.2. PFSP Questions/Discussion 1. Bob Jones – How far through sludge retrieval operations are you?

Tony Bishop – So far we have sent 150 drums to WEP, we expect the total number will be

1200.

2. Bob Jones – Has the experience from Magnox stations been taken on board, e.g. at

Trawsfynydd where they shaved/scabbled far deeper than necessary?

Tony Bishop – Yes, we have looked at other sites. It is likely we will scabble further than

necessary during the BISP in order to gain knowledge.

3. Peter Manning – Are the skips themselves classed as ILW?

Tony Bishop – Most have been exported as Low Level Waste (LLW).

4. Peter Manning – Is WEP the same plant as fed by the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant

(ThORP)?

Tony Bishop – Yes, we are its second feed.

5. Peter Manning – Have you found any orphan wastes1?

Tony Bishop – There are some highly radioactive items such as cobalt isotope cartridges2

which don’t have a defined export route at present. These are being consolidated for future

export, in what could become the third phase of ILW exports.

Tony Bishop was thanked for his contributions.

1 An “orphan waste” is one with no defined disposal route.

2 Aluminium cartridges containing the naturally occurring stable isotope

59Co were irradiated in the Windscale

piles in order to produce 60

Co by neutron capture. 60

Co is a relatively long-lived gamma emitter (having a 5.27 year half-life) which has many uses as a gamma source, most notably in radiotherapy.



2018 (Meeting #21)

Page 5 of 14

3.3. First Generation Magnox Storage Pond (FGMSP) Kevin Gunston gave a summary of what has been going on in FGMSP over the last year or so.

Bulk fuel retrievals progress:

o Skips of fuel are washed in the Deluge Skip Wash Box (DSWB) in FGMSP, to remove

sludge and debris, before being transferred to the Fuel Handling Plant (FHP).

o Since the landmark first fuel export in April 2016, a further 46 skips of fuel have

been sent to FHP. The fuel inventory transferred to FHP includes most of the full

length fuel rods that were in FGMSP.

o In the 2017/2018 financial year, shorter lengths of fuel, known as “uranium bits” or

“u-bits”, have also been sent to FHP. These bits tend to be stored in small

containers known as “bit bins”, which are themselves stored in a skip. Typically

there are six bit bins in a bit bins skip.

Bulk sludge retrievals progress:

o Sludge is removed from FGMSP by four different in-pond sludge tools:

the ROV-Controlled Retrieval Tool (RCRT);

the Crevice Sludge Retrieval Tool (CSRT);

the Bulk Sludge Retrieval Tool (BSRT); and

the DSWB.

o Sludge is pumped to Sludge Packaging Plant 1 (SPP1), then on to buffer storage in

Buffer Sludge Vessels (BSVs).

o Studies are underway to determine whether a new sludge treatment facility needs

to be built, or whether existing facilities on the site can be used for FGMSP sludge.

New sort and segregation capability – the in-pond manipulator:

o A new device for the sorting and segregation of skip contents is planned to be

installed in FGMSP in the summer of this year.

o This device, termed an “in-pond manipulator”, has room for up to six skips to be

placed inside it (these skips will be moved using the pond’s Skip Handler Machine

(SHM)).

o Material will be remotely moved from one skip to another, with the aim of

segregating fuel from MBGW.

o The in-pond manipulator will have a sludge removal capability.

o Without the in-pond manipulator, these operations would have required a

significant dose uptake to operators who would most likely be using long-handled

tooling.

Wet bays:

o A manipulator for use in the FGMSP wet bays has been installed.

o As with the in-pond manipulator, the wet bays manipulator reduces the dose uptake

to operators.

o This manipulator will be used to size reduce and remove scrap LLW and ILW items

which are blocking entry to the bays.



2018 (Meeting #21)

Page 6 of 14

o Other progress made in the wet bays includes the size reduction of five magazine

carousels3, including the removal of the fuel tubes.

o This significantly reduces risk as the fuel tubes are now safely stored in a basket at

ground level rather than being suspended.

o Once the fuel tubes have been removed, the remaining part of the carousel is

effectively a frame, colloquially known as an “apple core”.

o The “apple cores” are exported to the MBGWS.

Self-Shielded Boxes (SSBs):

o Self-Shielded Boxes are a container for the interim storage of waste.

o Originally the plan was to use SSBs for the storage of zeolite skips4 only.

o However, in August 2016, a Chief Technical Officer review concluded that a case

could be made for the use of SSBs also for self-draining fuel. This decision benefits

both FGMSP and PFSP:

it underpins the decision to halt the implementation of the PFSP bays buffer

store, saving resource and supporting accelerated dewatering of PFSP;

it provides a contingency route for FGMSP fuel should FHP become

unavailable;

it enables the acceleration of materials that are currently identified for

consignment to the Bulk Uranic Fuel Treatment (BUFT) Facility by up to six

years; and

it provides a technical basis for other FGMSP fuel bearing materials which

may simplify future operations.

o The building in which SSBs will be stored – the Interim Storage Facility (ISF), was

handed over to Waste Retrievals on March 12th 2018.

o The target date for the first zeolite skip to be transferred from FGMSP to the ISF is

February 2019.

3.4. FGMSP Questions/Discussion

1. Bob Jones – Has most of the fuel now been removed from FGMSP?

Kevin Gunston – Most of the full length fuel has been removed. Residual fuel remains in the

pond.

2. Bob Jones – When is all of the fuel expected to have been removed?

3 Fuel magazines are bundles of fuel rods held in a circular formation (not dissimilar to the cylinder of a

revolver), used for the transfer of fuel from the FGMSP to the Magnox Reprocessing plant. Since being taken out of service, several magazines (still laden with fuel) have been safely stored hanging in the wet bays on chains since the end of FGMSP operations in 1990. 4 Zeolite skips were used in FGMSP as an ion exchange medium, prior to the commissioning of the Site Ion

Exchange Effluent Plant (SIXEP).



2018 (Meeting #21)

Page 7 of 14

Kevin Gunston – The target date is 2022 for bulk fuel.

3. Peter Manning – What sort of dose rates can be expected to arise from SSBs? Do they need

transport flasks?

Kevin Gunston – It is safe for a person to stand next to one.

4. Peter Manning – Are there any empty skips in the pond? If so, will they be exported?

Kevin Gunston – There are some skips which have had all of their contents removed, but will

need to be washed prior to export. It is anticipated that the first empty skip will be removed

from the pond in May of this year.

5. Peter Manning – Is there a disposal route for other nonstandard wastes like cemented bit

bins5 and Tokaimura end crops6 (TMECs)?

Kevin Gunston – At the moment, the eventually envisaged disposal route for these items is

BUFT, although technical assessments may be undertaken to determine whether they could

be stored in SSBs.

6. Peter Manning – Are you satisfied that the wet bays work won’t interfere with the building

structure?

Kevin Gunston – Yes this has been checked.

Kevin Gunston was thanked for his contributions.

5 Further to the bit bins mentioned in “Bulk fuel retrievals progress” above, there is a population of grouted bit

bins in FGMSP, which pose unique technical challenges. 6 Fuel from the Tokaimura power station (Tōkai, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan) was Magnox fuel but unlike other

designs of Magnox fuel, it included a zirconium alloy plug welded to each end of the fuel rod. These end plugs were not suitable for reprocessing, and hence were cropped in FGMSP. These cuttings remain in FGMSP and are known as Tokaimura end crops (TMECs).



2018 (Meeting #21)

Page 8 of 14

4. Highly Active Liquor (HAL) Evaporation and Storage (HALES) Byron Smith (Head of Operations, HALES) was present to explain the HALES inventory, its recent

progress, and future plans.

4.1. Presentation The solvent extraction processes on the Sellafield site give rise to raffinate7 liquors

containing fission products and actinides (from dissolved fuel rods) in an aqueous nitric acid

solution.

HALES receives these raffinates from Magnox Reprocessing and from the ThORP, and

concentrates them into HAL through a process of evaporation.

o HALES has four evaporators, the most recent of which, Evaporator D, entered active

commissioning in December 2017. The evaporators function by circulating low

pressure steam in a jacket around the base of the vessel and through up to six coils

within the vessel.

o Evaporator D is able to deal with feeds from both Magnox Reprocessing and ThORP,

and will deal with the Post Operational Clean Out (POCO) liquors from these plants.

o It is anticipated that regulatory approval to fully operate Evaporator D will be

applied for in the middle of 2018.

o Evaporator A is not currently in use, but remains available as spare capacity for

Magnox Reprocessing raffinates.

o Evaporator B is running to underpin the active commissioning of Evaporator D.

o Evaporator C is planned to be used during Evaporator D outages, during 2018.

The HAL is stored in High Active Storage Tanks (HASTs), ahead of transfer to the Waste

Vitrification Plant (WVP).

Due to the self-heating nature of HAL, it is necessary to cool the HASTs.

There is a significant number of extra spare tanks.

WVP safely passivates HAL by converting it into a passive glass form which is suitable for

safe, long-term storage.

The total quantity of HAL stored in HALES at a given time can be measured in a number of

different ways:

o Volume – a volume limit on HAL content was set by the Office for Nuclear Regulation

(ONR) in 2001.

o Mass of uranium (teU) – the mass of uranium in the unprocessed fuel from which

the HAL was derived, was introduced as a measure in 2007, amidst concerns that

volume was a relatively poor measure of hazard potential.

o In the future, as there is a reduction in the inlet feeds to HALES, it will be more

appropriate to measure the HAL in terms of total heat output (in watts).

7 In chemical separation terminology, raffinate is a product which has had a component or components

removed.



2018 (Meeting #21)

Page 9 of 14

Since peaking in 2004, the HAL stock volume has reduced by roughly 70%. The remaining

stock is a combination of recently reprocessed fuels and some legacy Butex8 liquors.

Highlights in recent risk and hazard reduction include:

o It is considered that as a result of HAST chilling, no cooling coils have been removed

from service since 2012.

o One HAST which was predicted to be coming to the end of its useful life has been re-

assurance tested and is safe to use as contingency space.

o The recycling of weak liquors has contributed to volume reduction.

o Enhanced security and resilience measures.

HAL arisings will continue from ThORP and Magnox Reprocessing for the next 1 – 2 years.

Following the shutdown of ThORP and Magnox Reprocessing, POCO liquors arising from

those facilities will be sent to HALES.

HALES will also produce its own POCO liquors. Certain HASTs will enter POCO as soon as

ThORP ends reprocessing.

4.2. Questions/Discussion

1. Peter Manning – Are all 10 of the unused HASTs available as backup capacity?

Byron Smith – 2 of them can be readily used. The other 8 can be used if really needed.

2. Peter Manning – Are you managing to blend the Butex HAL with normal HAL, so as to avoid

any being left over at the end?

Byron Smith – Some Butex has already been vitrified in blended feeds, and we expect to

treat the remainder in blends.

3. Petra Tjitske Kalshoven – What are the factors which dictate the HALES throughput?

Byron Smith – The throughput is dictated by the quantity of raffinate being fed to HALES

from ThORP and Magnox Reprocessing, and by the quantity of HAL which can be received by

WVP.

8 During Sellafield's early reprocessing history, tributyl phosphate (TBP) was not used in the solvent extraction

process; instead, a substance called "Butex" was used. Butex is approximately 70% dibutoxydiethyl ether and the other 30% is comprised of a number of impurities (n-butyl alcohol, 2-butoxyethanol, 2-butoxyethyl formate, monobutyl carbinol, monobutyl carbinol formate, β-butoxyetyl butyl acetal, diethylene glycol monobutyrate, monobutyl carbitol butyrate, diethylene glycol dibutyrate, n-butyl butyrate, and α-hydroxybutyric acid).



2018 (Meeting #21)

Page 10 of 14

Byron Smith was thanked for his contributions.

5. Brief NDA Update

5.1. Update Brian Hough introduced Kelly Anderson who will be taking over from him in the role of NDA

Communications and Stakeholder Manager.

It is likely that representatives from the NDA and LLWR will be in a position to give a detailed update

on Near Surface Disposal (NSD) to the next meeting of this Working Group (this topic had been

touched upon in the December 2017 meeting of this Working Group (Meeting 20)).

It is conceivable that by September, BEIS will have instructed RWM to launch the Geological Disposal

Facility (GDF) siting process. The process probably won’t have launched by September, but RWM

will be in a position to discuss their plans at this stage.

A detailed update on NDA strategy is likely to be ready for the December meeting of this Working

Group.

All of these timescales are subject to change due to the timing of BEIS consultations and unforeseen

political events resulting in purdah periods.

5.2. Questions/Discussion 1. Peter Manning – Will the update on NDA Strategy include the strategy for the end states of

sites?

Brian Hough – That issue is likely to be covered by a BEIS consultation which is yet to be

scheduled. Some flexibility regarding Sellafield is a significant issue.

Acknowledging this to be Brian’s last meeting in his role as NDA Communications and Stakeholder

Manager, the Chair thanked Brian for his service to the Working Group and wished him all the best

for the future.

6. BEIS Consultation – “Working with Communities” consultation A substantial discussion was held regarding the BEIS “Working with Communities” consultation. The

Secretary noted the Working Group’s feedback, and will combine this with feedback already

received from individual members into a single feedback document, to be sent to the WCSSG

Enablers Working Group [Action 21.1].



2018 (Meeting #21)

Page 11 of 14

7. Any Other Business Peter Manning and Bob Jones had recently attended a meeting with Sellafield Ltd. representatives,

regarding the SL Corporate Plan. They expressed a desire for the Working Group to be kept up to

date with the development of this plan.

There was some anxiety amongst members that the number of esoteric acronyms used in Working

Group meetings was becoming excessive. The Secretary agreed to send out a list of all acronyms

and initialisms used in recent meetings, along with their definitions, with these minutes [Action

21.2].

A request was made for the Secretary to send the forward plan of meeting agenda topics to the

Working Group [Action 21.3].

The next meeting (Meeting 22) of the Working Group will take place on Wednesday June 20th at

Cleator Moor Civic Hall, from 13:00 until 15:00.

8. List of actions arising (or remaining open from previous meetings) 20.3 The Secretary to organise an update on the Old Sea Tanks and SIXEP Tanks. 20.4 Brian Hough to raise the Working Group’s concerns regarding MOD fuel stored on the

Sellafield site with BEIS. 21.1 The Secretary to send the Working Group’s feedback on the BEIS “Working with

Communities” consultation to the Enablers Working Group to be included in the WCSSG’s response to this consultation.

21.2 The Secretary to send a full list of acronyms and initialisms used in recent meetings, along with their definitions, to the Working Group.

21.3 The Secretary to send the forward plan of meeting agenda topics to the Working Group.

9. Amendments to previous minutes The following correction to the minutes of the meeting of this Working Group in June 2017 (Meeting

#18) has been made:

On page 3, in the bullet point “At present sludge is transferred from the pond via the Sludge

Packaging Plant (SPP1) to Buffered Storage Vessels (BSVs), with the supernate being

returned to the pond”, replace Buffered Storage Vessels with Buffer Sludge Vessels.

The following correction to the minutes of the meeting of this Working Group in December 2017

(Meeting #20) has been made:

On page 3, replace the bullet point “In the early 2000s an argon inerting system was

installed to mitigate the potential of a fire” with “An argon inerting system to mitigate the

potential of a fire became operational in November 2001”.

10. Distribution 1. Attendees.

2. Those in apologies.



2018 (Meeting #21)

Page 12 of 14

In the fullness of time a copy of these minutes will be made available on the WCSSG website.



2018 (Meeting #21)

Page 13 of 14

11. Key to abbreviations 59Co Cobalt-59 60Co Cobalt-60 BEIS [Department for] Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy BISP Bay Interim State Pilot BMMS Building Movement Monitoring System BSRT Bulk Sludge Retrieval Tool BSV Buffer Sludge Vessel BUFT Bulk Uranic Fuel Treatment [Plant] CA Carlisle postcode area CSRT Crevice Sludge Retrieval Tool DFP Drum Filling Plant DSWB Deluge Skip Wash Box EA Environment Agency e.g. exemplī grātiā (“for example”) FGMSP First Generation Magnox Storage Pond FHP Fuel Handling Plant GDF Geological Disposal Facility HAL High Active Liquor HALES HAL Evaporation and Storage HAST Highly Active Storage Tank ILW Intermediate Level Waste ISF Interim Storage Facility LLW Low Level Waste LLWR LLW Repository LSTP Local Sludge Treatment Plant LTA Lost Time Accident Ltd. Limited MBGW Miscellaneous Beta-Gamma Waste MBGWS MBGW Store MOD Ministry of Defence MSSS Magnox Swarf Storage Silo NDA Nuclear Decommissioning Authority NSD Near Surface Disposal ONR Office for Nuclear Regulation OU Operating Unit PFSP Pile Fuel Storage Pond POCO Post Operational Clean Out RCRT ROV Controlled Retrieval Tool ROV Remotely Operated Vehicle RWM Radioactive Waste Management (a subsidiary of the NDA) SHM Skip Handler Machine SIXEP Site Ion Exchange Effluent Plant SL Sellafield Ltd. SPP1 Sludge Packaging Plant 1 SSB Self-Shielded Box teU Tonnes of [unprocessed] uranium ThORP Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant TMEC Tokaimura End Crop WCSSG West Cumbria Sites Stakeholder Group



2018 (Meeting #21)

Page 14 of 14

WEP Waste Encapsulation Plant WVP Waste Vitrification Plant

risk and hazard reduction and waste management working … · 2018. 7. 4. · risk and hazard...

Documents