Rope access experts have abseiled down a 20m-high rock wall around Dounreay’s low-level radioactive waste vaults to carry out rock face maintenance and stabilisation work.
Dounreay operates facilities for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste adjacent to the nuclear licensed site. The shallow engineered concrete vaults constructed below the ground contain much of the radioactive waste produced during the operational life of the site and will be produced by the site’s decommissioning and remediation programme.
Contractor CAN Geotechnical and geotechnical designer Golder Associates (UK) worked with Dounreay to carry out the rock face stabilisation work. The work consists of scaling loose rock, repairing existing rock netting systems, and installing additional rock bolts, netting and catch fences to protect against falling rock from the faces.
The work is to ensure the excavations are safe before an initial phase of backfilling around the low level waste vault begins. The backfilling is an integral part of the disposal process and will be undertaken in tandem with the grouting around the waste containers in the vault.
Backfilling is scheduled to begin in January 2022 and the first stage of grouting around the waste packages is planned for April 2022.
Colin Smith, CAN site manager, said: “It’s important we have safe methods to recover from any incident, particularly at height, and we regularly undertake rescue training. We’ve been undertaking some rescue exercises while working at Dounreay, to practice recovery of injured personnel from up on the rock faces. This has allowed us to keep our training fresh but also to test how we would interact with the Dounreay team if an emergency arose.”
