Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd

Thursday 24 December 2009

Season's greetings from Dounreay

Much of Dounreay closes down for the festive holidays on December 24 and restarts on Tuesday January 5. Work essential for safety continues during this period.

Wednesday 23 December 2009

Fire engine's last call is to museum

Dounreay’s specialist fire engine has been called out for the last time - to head for a new life in a museum for historic vehicles.

Tuesday 22 December 2009

Dounreay submits new proposal for lower discharges

Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd has presented estimates of how much radioactivity it expects to dispose of during the remainder of the site clean-up and closure programme.

Tuesday 22 December 2009

November performance figures published

 Dounreay's performance report for November has been published.

Monday 21 December 2009

Reactor teams reach 12 years accident-free

As the hazardous decommissioning work rapidly progresses within its redundant nuclear reactors, maintaining a flawless safety record is an achievement the Dounreay fast reactor demolition squads can be proud of.

Thursday 17 December 2009

Photos uncovered of Duke of Edinburgh at Dounreay

Forgotten photographs have emerged of a visit by the Duke of Edinburgh to Dounreay during its construction in October 1957.

Wednesday 16 December 2009

Flask goes as full-scale decommissioning of plant begins

 The team cleaning out the fast reactor reprocessing plant in Dounreay’s fuel cycle area lined up to say goodbye to the last of the 'Punit' flasks as it made its final journey.

Tuesday 15 December 2009

Dounreay newspapers scoop NDA awards

Dounreay has won two awards in a competition to find the best examples of keeping people informed across Britain’s nuclear clean-up industry.

Monday 14 December 2009

Building comes down as waste pits waterproofed

 Another building comes down as preliminary work to decommission Dounreay's historic waste pits gets underway.

Thursday 10 December 2009

Youngsters debate future of sphere in heritage consultation

Young people in Caithness are being encouraged to have their say on which aspects of the Dounreay former nuclear research facility should be preserved for posterity.

Monday 7 December 2009

Partnering with Dounreay helps College win award

 A close partnering relationship with Dounreay helped the North Highland College UHI to scoop first prize in the Partnership category of the prestigious Scotland’s Colleges Annual Awards.

Friday 4 December 2009

December issue of site newspaper now online

The December issue of the Dounreay News has been published online.

Thursday 3 December 2009

Building clean out detects historic nuclear material

 As Dounreay’s decommissioning progresses, tiny amounts of fissile material caught up in nooks and crannies of inaccessible pipework and equipment are being identified.

Wednesday 2 December 2009

October performance figures published online

Dounreay's performance report for October has been published. 

Tuesday 1 December 2009

NDA chief sees toxic hazard disappear

The new man in charge of Britain’s nuclear clean-up has seen one of the country’s biggest hazards being destroyed at Dounreay.

Tuesday 24 November 2009

Mrs Thatcher's quest for energy 30 years ago

Thirty years ago, Margaret Thatcher was the last Prime Minister to announce a new generation of nuclear power stations.

Monday 23 November 2009

Dounreay to become UK's first nuclear heritage project

Within a few years, much of the experimental nuclear site at Dounreay will disappear from the landscape.

Friday 20 November 2009

World's deepest clean-up job wins fourth top award

The world's deepest nuclear clean-up job has won another top award for engineering excellence.

Thursday 19 November 2009

New report assesses public dose from Dounreay

A new report provides an independent assessment of the levels of radioactivity that members of the public are exposed to near Dounreay.

Thursday 19 November 2009

Website survey results published

Nine out of ten people who took part in a survey say their impression of Dounreay has changed for the better after using the dounreay.com website.

Wednesday 18 November 2009

Dirty cell clean up goes through the roof

The x-ray cell in one of Dounreay’s redundant fuel cycle facilities has been stripped out, earning the decommissioning team a performance-based incentive.

Monday 16 November 2009

Cameras penetrate underground nuclear waste store

Two remotely-operated cameras have sent back video and photos of the intermediate-level radioactive waste stored in Dounreay’s wet silo.

Friday 13 November 2009

Fifty years of flight at Dounreay

Fifty years of aviation history at Dounreay are captured in a new section of the dounreay.com website.

Monday 9 November 2009

Fast breeder was Britain's 'man on the moon moment'

It was Britain’s man-on-the-moon moment, when a decade of scientific and engineering breakthroughs culminated in the most advanced nuclear plant in the world.

Monday 9 November 2009

Siren sounds for Armistice Day

Dounreay's site alert will be sounded at 11am  on Wednesday, November 11, to enable workers to take part in a minute's slience on Armistice Day.

Thursday 5 November 2009

Archive film of Dounreay released on internet

Historic film of the construction of Britain’s experimental fast breeder reactor at Dounreay can now be viewed on the internet.

Tuesday 3 November 2009

November Dounreay News online today

The November issue of the site's monthly newspaper, Dounreay News, is available online. 

Monday 2 November 2009

New on-line photo library reveals Queen Mother inside DFR

A unique photographic record of the Queen Mother at the cutting edge of Britain’s quest for nuclear energy 50 years ago has been published for the first time.

Monday 2 November 2009

DSRL moves into private sector with Babcock

Ownership of Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd has moved from the public sector to the private sector.

Tuesday 27 October 2009

September performance report published online

DSRL's most recent monthly performance report has been published.

Monday 26 October 2009

Residents advised of reduction in accident hazard

People living near Dounreay are being advised of changes to the arrangements in place for dealing with an emergency.

Friday 23 October 2009

Dounreay fast reactor old stack to be scrapped

 Another relic of Dounreay’s past is about to be consigned to history.

Tuesday 20 October 2009

Top engineering award for shaft clean-up project

Dounreay’s multi award-winning shaft clean-up project has earned yet another top engineering award.

Tuesday 20 October 2009

Dounreay publishes latest socio economic plan

Thursday 15 October 2009

Dounreay publishes plan of future work

Dounreay has published details of £114m worth of contracts to be placed during the next three years.

Thursday 15 October 2009

Dounreay wins Sword of Honour safety award

Dounreay’s clean-up contractor has won the highest international safety award from the British Safety Council.

Sunday 11 October 2009

Closure of foreign fuel contracts

Dounreay entered into contracts in the early 1990s with overseas customers to recycle their spent fuel. This work ceased following a breakdown in one of the chemical plants in 1996.

Tuesday 6 October 2009

Retiring firefighter finds new home

A unique fire engine specially made to tackle radioactive metal fires at Dounreay has been saved from the scrap heap, thanks to a group of local vehicle enthusiasts.

Thursday 1 October 2009

October's Dounreay News published today

The October issue of the site's monthly newspaper, Dounreay News, is available online. 

Thursday 1 October 2009

Reactor decommissioning film goes live

A new film has been produced showing the decommissioning progress within the redundant Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR).

Tuesday 29 September 2009

Camera team to probe underground waste

A decommissioning team is getting ready to look inside an underground bunker where intermediate-level radioactive waste has lain submerged in water for almost 40 years.

Tuesday 29 September 2009

Dounreay is platform for Scots clean-up expertise

Scottish companies are marketing their expertise in nuclear decommissioning to delegates from seven countries that are in Scotland to learn how the country is dismantling its nuclear heritage.

Tuesday 29 September 2009

'Decommissioning Dounreay' now on-line

Scotland’s biggest nuclear decommissioning project is featured in a 32-page colour newspaper being distributed widely across the Northern Highlands.

Thursday 24 September 2009

Tests underway to retrieve underground waste

One of the most demanding clean-up jobs ever undertaken in the history of nuclear energy is gathering pace.

Thursday 24 September 2009

Exercise at Dounreay

An emergency exercise will be held at Dounreay at 9am today.

Thursday 24 September 2009

August performance report available online

DSRL's most recent monthly performance report has been published.

Thursday 24 September 2009

Tell us what you think

DSRL today launches a short survey for its website users.

Tuesday 22 September 2009

NDA launches competition for Dounreay

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has launched its competition for the ownership of Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd.

Friday 18 September 2009

DSRL's owners to be acquired by Babcock

It was announced today that Babcock International Group PLC, the engineering support services company, is to acquire UKAEA Ltd, the parent company of Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd.

Thursday 17 September 2009

Dounreay publishes off-site contamination report

Dounreay today publishes the findings of its investigation into the discovery of a radioactive particle in land adjacent to the licensed site.

Monday 7 September 2009

UK Minister sees first screening of new clean-up film

UK Government Minister Lord Hunt today visited the site of Scotland’s most successful nuclear clean-up project and watched the first screening of a film about its clean-out and demolition.

Monday 7 September 2009

Lord Hunt sees major hazard being destroyed

The Minister in charge of Britain’s nuclear clean-up today stepped inside one of the biggest projects in his brief.

Monday 7 September 2009

Dounreay delivers £6m in savings to NDA

The performance of Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd during its first year of operation is highlighted in the newly-published annual report and accounts of its parent body, UKAEA.

Tuesday 1 September 2009

September's Dounreay News now published

The September issue of the site's monthly newspaper, Dounreay News, has been published.

Wednesday 26 August 2009

July site performance report now online

The site clean-up performance report for July 2009 has now been published.

Monday 24 August 2009

Cillit Bang cleans up old plutonium plant

Nuclear sites across Britain are showing interest in the discovery by workers at Dounreay that one of the country’s best-selling household cleaners removes plutonium stains more effectively than many industrial clean-up products.

Thursday 20 August 2009

Nostalgic return for 1956 apprentice

Donald and Alaine Mackay dropped into the dounreay.com information office in Thurso during their holidays.

Wednesday 19 August 2009

Monster tank lifted from redundant reactor

Imagine hoisting a twenty-six tonne cylinder as deep as a diving pool from the depths of a former nuclear power plant.

Wednesday 19 August 2009

Clean-up removes 29 "significant" particles from seabed

More than a hundred fragments of spent nuclear fuel were removed from the seabed in the latest phase of work to clean up and shut down the former nuclear research site at Dounreay.

Wednesday 19 August 2009

Survey detects contamination on proposed waste disposal site

Two small areas of radioactive contamination have been detected during a survey of grazing land adjacent to the former nuclear research site at Dounreay.

Thursday 6 August 2009

Safety audit earns Dounreay top award

An independent audit of health and safety at Dounreay has placed the site in the highest category of good practice.

Wednesday 5 August 2009

Free poster shows clean-up progress under NDA

Fifty-two buildings flattened, an area of the site equivalent to three football pitches razed to the ground, no nuclear accidents and a five-fold reduction in injuries . . .

Monday 3 August 2009

Royal seal for Dounreay's place in Highland history

Prince Charles has set the royal seal of approval on a £4 million project that secures the story of Dounreay in the history of the Highlands.

Monday 3 August 2009

August issue of site newspaper online

The August issue of the site's monthly newspaper, Dounreay News, is available online.

Thursday 30 July 2009

NDA: criticality cell clean-up a real triumph

The successful clean up and demolition of Dounreay’s plutonium criticality laboratory has been highlighted as a case study in the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency’s (NDA) annual report for 2008/09.

Wednesday 29 July 2009

June performance report published

The site clean-up performance report for June 2009 has now been published.

Thursday 23 July 2009

Hockey stick lifted from former reactor

Looming high into the roof voids of the former Prototype Fast Reactor steam generating building stood a gigantic metal hockey stick shaped structure.

Thursday 23 July 2009

DSRL publishes its first Annual Report

DSRL has today published its Annual Report and Accounts for 2008/9 – the first since becoming a site licence company on 1 April 2008.

Thursday 16 July 2009

IAEA showcase for public participation at Dounreay

Dounreay’s approach to involving stakeholders in decisions about the clean-up and closure of the site is featured in a new publication from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Thursday 9 July 2009

Safety awards celebrate Dounreay successes

“A credit to the site” is how Dounreay director Simon Middlemas described the winners and runners-up in the annual safety, health and environment awards.

Friday 3 July 2009

July's issue of Dounreay News available online

The June issue of the site's monthly newspaper, Dounreay News, is available to read online.

Wednesday 1 July 2009

Dounreay publishes its monthly performance report for May

Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd has published its monthly performance report for May.

Tuesday 23 June 2009

Dounreay’s largest hazard removal cranks up a gear

Dounreay is well on its way to destroying the largest single hazard left over from the fast reactor research and development programme.

Wednesday 17 June 2009

New film captures clean-up progress

A new film about decommissioning Dounreay gets its first public screening today at a national stakeholder event in Manchester run by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

Tuesday 16 June 2009

Hazardous work increases as incident rate falls

The acceleration of decommissioning at Dounreay is reflected in new statistics showing how much more of the site is being penetrated by clean-up teams.

Thursday 4 June 2009

Offshore clean-up set to resume

An area of seabed equivalent in size to more than 10 football pitches is to be monitored over the summer during the next phase of implementation of Dounreay’s particle recovery programme.

Thursday 4 June 2009

Sphere pond surveyed

The remnants of the past are gradually being stripped out of Dounreay’s dome.

Friday 29 May 2009

June issue of Dounreay News published today

The June issue of the site's monthly newspaper, Dounreay News, is available online.

Wednesday 27 May 2009

April performance report published

Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd has published its monthly performance report for April.

Thursday 21 May 2009

Trade show promotes nuclear clean-up

Businesses in Britain’s £70bn nuclear clean-up market were urged today to seize the opportunity of decommissioning Dounreay to become world leaders in the field.

Wednesday 20 May 2009

Eight-ton fans will drive fuel plants clean-up

Like a giant Meccano set, some 1500 parts are being fitted together to create a new ventilation system that will protect workers decommissioning some of Dounreay’s most hazardous facilities.

Thursday 14 May 2009

Dounreay joins Learning at Work Day

Dounreay is among hundreds of workplaces across Britain taking part today in an initiative to encourage workers to develop new skills and gain more qualifications.

Wednesday 13 May 2009

Green light for waste plans

Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd has received planning consent for two of the biggest construction projects needed to complete the site clean-up.

Tuesday 5 May 2009

Reactorsaurus to pull apart Dounreay plant

In order to pull out the innards of the redundant reactor which once fed power into the national grid, DSRL’s design engineers have had to come up with some pretty ingenious inventions since the reactor was switched off.

Friday 1 May 2009

Performance Report for March now published

The site clean-up performance report for March 2009 has now been published.

Friday 1 May 2009

May issue of Dounreay News online now

The May issue of Dounreay News has been published and is available on the website.

Thursday 23 April 2009

Safety record earns charity windfall

Dounreay’s industrial safety record during the last 12 months earned a £22,500 windfall for good causes locally.

Wednesday 8 April 2009

Bespoke firefighters go as Dounreay's hazards reduce

The destruction of the liquid metal coolant in Dounreay’s experimental fast reactors means that the site can say farewell to two of its firefighters, the graphex tenders.

Tuesday 7 April 2009

Drop testing uses new off-site facility

Dropping a large three metre stainless steel container from a great height might seem like a bizarre concept, but it’s all in a days work for the PFR project team.

Monday 6 April 2009

Monster tanks prepared for removal

Four monster tanks are ready to be removed from the prototype fast reactor’s steam generation building at Dounreay.

Monday 6 April 2009

Dounreay wins top safety award

Dounreay has scooped a prestigious international award from one of the world’s leading health and safety training, advisory and audit bodies.

Thursday 2 April 2009

PFR offices ready for demolition

Erected at Dounreay in the early seventies to house the PFR installation and reactor commissioning teams, the cluster of ‘temporary’ office buildings, known as DN023, now sit empty ready for demolition. 

Wednesday 1 April 2009

April 'Dounreay News' published today

The new look Dounreay News is on the site's news stands today.

Wednesday 1 April 2009

February site performance report out today

The site clean-up performance report for February 2009 has now been published.

Wednesday 1 April 2009

Household glass cleaner helps decommissioners clean up

Another legacy of Dounreay’s commercial venture into nuclear reprocessing has been safely cleaned up and taken apart.

Thursday 26 March 2009

Hundred firms show interest in major projects

Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd today held talks with almost 100 companies interested in building three new plants needed to complete the decommissioning of the site.

Tuesday 24 March 2009

Ground work begins for shaft clean-out

Work is underway on the next phase of a major clean-up project unique in the history of the nuclear industry.

Tuesday 24 March 2009

NDA director impressed by demolition progress

NDA director Jim Morse visited Dounreay to see the final stages of demolition of the plutonium criticality complex.

Friday 20 March 2009

Heritage agency in talks with site

Officials from Dounreay and Historic Scotland met today for talks about a heritage strategy for the site.

Wednesday 18 March 2009

Site publishes contaminated land strategy

Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd today published its strategy for dealing with contaminated land as part of the site closure programme.

Wednesday 18 March 2009

Concern about castle condition

Consulting engineers Cruden Associates are carrying out a structural survey of the 16th century Dounreay Castle.

Wednesday 18 March 2009

New stacks change the skyline at Dounreay

Dounreay’s skyline changed once again on Friday 13 March when the twin stacks of the new FCA ventilation system rose into the sky.

Monday 16 March 2009

Shaft clean-up hailed by more award judges

Dounreay’s award-winning shaft clean-up project has earned more industry plaudits.

Friday 13 March 2009

Caithness scoops national industry skills awards

To view video footage of interviews with the winners of the awards click on the following link: http://www.nuclear.nsacademy.co.uk/node/907

Wednesday 11 March 2009

Lorries carry Dounreay away every 20 minutes

Lorries laden with spoil are leaving Dounreay every 20 minutes as the site gears up for the next big phase of its decommissioning.

Tuesday 10 March 2009

Plutonium cell reduced to rubble

A stump of concrete and steel is all that remains standing of one Britain's most historic nuclear research facilities from the 1950s.

Friday 6 March 2009

Sphere hazard removal gets green light

Dounreay is another step closer to destroying one of the largest single hazards left over from the fast reactor research and development programme.

Monday 2 March 2009

March issue of Dounreay News now published

The March issue of Dounreay News has now been published.

Monday 2 March 2009

Dounreay's performance report for January now available

The site clean-up performance report for January 2009 has now been published.

Friday 27 February 2009

New stacks set to rise above Dounreay

Dounreay’s skyline is set to change again when two new ventilation stacks – each the size of a jet airliner’s fuselage – are moved into position.

Thursday 26 February 2009

Dounreay seeks interest from supply chain in major new construction work

Dounreay is holding a special event for contractors with an interest in three major new construction projects.

Wednesday 25 February 2009

Skyline change at Dounreay as facility is demolished

Dounreay's skyline is set to change as another important facility is turned to rubble.

Wednesday 25 February 2009

Reactor camera photographs lava-like residue

Another ground-breaking device is leading the way with decommissioning Dounreay’s Prototype Fast Reactor.

Thursday 12 February 2009

Hi-tech “worm” probes subterranean pipeline

A hi-tech “worm” is probing a subterranean pipeline used to discharge radioactive effluent from Dounreay between 1957 and 1992.

Monday 9 February 2009

Shaft clean-up in showcase of engineering excellence

Work to decommission the waste shaft at Dounreay has been highly commended in a showcase of Britain's leading ground engineering projects.

Thursday 5 February 2009

New report lists R & D opportunities

A new report lists more than 100 opportunities for research and development to support the decommissioning of the site.

Tuesday 3 February 2009

February issue of Dounreay News now available

The February issue of the site's newspaper is now available. Once again, it's a bumper 16-page edition.

Thursday 29 January 2009

Recycling initiative earns award for Dounreay

Dounreay’s commitment to recycling clean waste has earned them a bronze award (one star) by a new rating scheme, National Recycling Stars.

Thursday 29 January 2009

Plasma-arc cuts through old fuel plant

Dounreay's latest monthly performance report is now available.

Monday 26 January 2009

IAEA delegates visit Dounreay clean-up

Delegates from 12 countries are visiting Dounreay this week as part of an initiative by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Tuesday 20 January 2009

New ventilation stacks arrive at Dounreay

The first pieces of two 30 metre high ventilation stacks have arrived at Dounreay.

Tuesday 13 January 2009

Council approves £110m waste plan for Dounreay

Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd today welcomed local authority planning approval for a £110m investment in new facilities for managing low-level radioactive waste.

Thursday 8 January 2009

Emergency planning zone shrinks to 1.15km

Dounreay’s detailed emergency planning zone is being reduced from 5km to 1.15km.

Wednesday 7 January 2009

Revealed - the 1950s plutonium experiment behind latest clean-up success

The fascinating story behind one of Dounreay's most remarkable decommissioning projects is revealed today.

Tuesday 6 January 2009

Public asked to rank attributes for waste review

Dounreay is inviting organisations and members of the public to help it decide how certain types of waste from decommissioning should be managed in future.

Monday 5 January 2009

New Year Honour for DSRL chairman

Stephen White, chairman of Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd and director of business strategy with parent body UKAEA, has been named an OBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours.