AMEC has won contracts of undisclosed value to sample, analyse and advise on waste at three nuclear sites owned by British Nuclear Group's Magnox business in the UK.
Work has begun at the three reactor sites, which are undergoing decommissioning, at Bradwell in Essex, Trawsfynydd in North Wales and Hunterston A in Scotland. AMEC is conducting detailed sampling and analysis of radioactive sludges contained in silos and waste contaminated oils.
The contracts will run for around six months and are part of a bigger programme to deal with the wastes which have been built up over the lifetime of the reactors.
Dr Mike Smith, Manager of Technology Services in AMEC, said: ‘The unique skills within AMEC's nuclear business mean we can undertake the full programme of work in-house, from sampling radioactive waste on site, radiochemical characterisation in our laboratories, right through to trials to establish the most cost-effective waste encapsulation solutions.
‘For Trawsfynydd we have developed an innovative approach to sorting and characterising radioactive contaminated gas circulator oils, which reduces the amount of sampling and analysis required and hence greatly reduces the overall disposal costs.’
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