The first operational nuclear reactor in Scotland will be demolished, having secured a multi-million pound contract for its destruction.
Dounreay Materials Test Reactor (DMTR), which was built in the 1950s to examine radiation exposure to different materials, was functional for 11 years. However, this news marks a milestone for one of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s (NDA) major sites.
Director of nuclear operations for the NDA Alan Cumming stated: “Dounreay site, and the surrounding communities, have made an incredible contribution to the advancement of the UK’s nuclear industry for several decades.”
He added that the demolition of the Dounreay Materials Test Reactor “represents a significant step in our mission to decommission and clean up the legacy from the very earliest days of the UK’s nuclear industry”.
Cavendish Nuclear, together with JGC Engineering, KDC and Frazer-Nash Consultancy, will work on demolishing the structure over the next three years.
This is not the first reactor NDA has secured a contract for at Dounreay, after Graham Construction was appointed to build an intermediate level waste storage facility at the site, while Nuvia was chosen to get rid of residual liquid metal coolant from Dounreay’s Fast Reactor.
This comes after NDA’s chief executive David Peattie told the Guardian the task of cleaning up old nuclear power plants is costing the country billions of pounds, as nuclear waste processing declines.
He noted the NDA has £3 billion to decommission 17 nuclear sites around the UK, but only takes in £1 billion a year, leaving a financial gap for the government. Mr Peattie added: “I don’t think we can fill the hole completely.”
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