Work on Dounreay’s newest radioactive waste store has reached new heights following a marathon efforts by staff.
The construction project was one of the first to re-start work in June, following the easing of lockdown restrictions.
The 60-strong team has had to learn Covid-19 compliant ways of working, sometimes in close proximity with each other, to keep themselves and their colleagues safe on site.
Since then they have poured 1,500 tonnes of concrete and the building walls have now risen to above the first floor level.
Last week the team embarked on the biggest concrete pour of the project so far, working for nine hours to lay the floor slab in the crane maintenance bay (CMB) on the first floor of the building, with 27 lorries delivering 425 tonnes of concrete. An overnight shift completed the job in the early hours of the morning.
The new intermediate level waste store will hold drums of waste in safe long term storage at Dounreay in accordance with Scottish Government policy.
The £22 million contract, awarded to Graham Construction Ltd, started in 2018 and is expected to take around three years to complete.
Dounreay project manager Dave Busby said that casting the CMB floor slab was a significant construction milestone as it will allow the team to install the 170 tonne CMB shield door early next year.
He added: “The team has overcome considerable obstacles this year, being Covid-19 compliant as they continue to work through the pandemic.”
Dounreay is Scotland’s largest nuclear decommissioning project and is one of Europe’s most complex nuclear closure programmes. it is being delivered by DSRL, a company owned by Cavendish Dounreay Partnership, on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
