Environment
Our main aim is to protect people and the environment from our clean up operations. So we are constantly looking for ways to improve what we do. We recognise that our activities have risks that must be managed and controlled to minimise their impact on people and the environment.
Our aims:
o We will minimise waste and the use of nature resources;
o We will manage wastes produced by decommissioning safely to prevent harm to people or the environment;
o We will use best practice to ensure that our methods are of the highest standard.
Our methods:
Our management system identifies activities that have the potential to harm the environment. We then minimise the risks by controlling the way that we work.
We are governed by environmental regulations laid down by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). We have to comply with their authorisations for disposal of liquid, gaseous and solid wastes, and we monitor our compliance carefully.
The nature of our nuclear clean-up work means that we inevitably have to make discharges of small amounts of radioactive substances in liquid and gaseous form. Discharge limits are set by SEPA at levels far below those that would harm people’s health or the environment. Extensive monitoring programmes confirm that our discharges are well within these limits. However, we use best practicable means to reduce our discharges even further and achieve lowest possible levels.
We set ourselves tough environmental targets and work hard to meet them. Delivering Environmental Management Plans are a key part of this and crucial to maintaining our ISO 14001 accreditation.
Dounreay from a Beach
Monitoring the Dounreay foreshore
Groundwater monitoring of boreholes on site
Cleaning up a local beach as part of our commitment to the environment
