Alpha Sort & Segregation (αSAS) active demonstrator

Project

Remediation capability development

Benefits

Significant cost savings in storing reduced quantities of PCM. In addition, decommissioning legacy crates has multiple benefits by:

• Freeing up space in our PCM drum stores.

• Reducing high-hazard risk.

• Providing contingency space within our stores.

Current Status

Inactive commissioning is expected to begin in Summer 2023 with a view to starting active operations in Spring 2024.

Delivery Partners

Cavendish Nuclear Ltd, Cumbria Nuclear Solutions Ltd

Contact Details

Bill Johnson

technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

Managing PCM on the Sellafield site is expected to cost ~£2 billion over the lifetime of the site. Therefore, there is a drive to explore opportunities to maximise the appropriate segregation of PCM and LLW. LLW is typically 10–15 times less expensive than PCM, so effective decontamination and characterisation of alpha-contaminated material can very quickly add up to significant cost savings.

In addition, we have approximately 650 legacy crates containing large items of PCM that need processing into a suitable form for long-term disposal.

The Alpha Sort & Segregation (αSAS) active demonstrator will provide a new capability that will transport a crate to a containment structure where operators can safely characterise, dismantle, and then sort and segregate it into PCM and LLW. These can then be disposed of through our existing waste processing routes.

The purpose of the active demonstrator is to process a small number of legacy crates to gather learning and test improvements to:

1. Understand the typical challenges associated with decommissioning legacy crates. This will inform a future major project called the Crate Breakdown Facility, which will break down all 650 legacy crates.

2. Provide a test bed for new handheld radiometric equipment and decontamination approaches to optimise our segregation of PCM and LLW.

3. Implement the learning from this programme across the rest of alpha remediation, with the potential to greatly reduce the volume of PCM generated in the future.

The demonstrator programme, which began in 2019, involved working collaboratively with Cumbria Nuclear Solutions Ltd on the design, build, and commissioning of this new capability. Installation works are ongoing and inactive commissioning is expected to begin in Summer 2023 with a view to starting active operations in Spring 2024.