Contaminated land

Parts of the ground at Dounreay are known to be contaminated.

Some of this is chemical contamination, and other contamination is radiological from the operation of nuclear research facilities. Chemical contamination may have resulted from the time when the land was used as military airfield or may be as a result of natural processes, as well as from Dounreay’s operation.

The "end state" for the site, agreed following public consultation, established a way forward for dealing with this legacy.

Some of the contaminated ground will be remediated by the completion of decommissioning in 2025-32, and other contamination will be allowed to decay naturally in the ground through to 2300.

Achieving the end-state will require a step-wise approach of facility decommissioning, site characterisation, remediation and restoration of contaminated land. Prior to restoration, contaminated land must be managed safely.

In March 2009, Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd presented its strategy for contaminated land to Dounreay Stakeholder Group. Click here to download a summary of the strategy. Click here to download the full version.

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Image: Access is restricted to some areas of land

Access is restricted to some areas of land

Image: Parts of the site are known to be contaminated

Parts of the site are known to be contaminated

Image: Groundwater is checked in a series of boreholes

Groundwater is checked in a series of boreholes