United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
Encyclopedia
The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (the Authority) is a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of nuclear fusion power
. It is an executive non-departmental public body
of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
and was formerly chaired by Lady Barbara Judge CBE
.
On its formation in 1954, the Authority was responsible for the UK's entire nuclear program, both civil and defence, as well as the policing of nuclear sites. It made pioneering developments in nuclear power, overseeing the peaceful development of nuclear technology and performing much scientific research. However since the early 1970s its areas of work have been gradually reduced, with functions transferred to other government organisations as well as to the private sector.
The Authority now focuses on UK and European fusion power research programs at Culham
in Oxfordshire
, including the world's most powerful fusion device, the Joint European Torus
. The research aims to develop fusion power as a commercially viable, environmentally sound energy source for the future.
The Authority also remains responsible for managing the records service for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
.
on 19 July 1954 when the Atomic Energy Authority Act 1954 received Royal Assent and gave Authority the power “to produce, use and dispose of atomic energy and carry out research into any matters therewith”.
Following the Atomic Energy Authority Act 1971, the Authority was split into three, with only research activities remaining with the Authority. The Radiochemical Centre Ltd took over production of medical and industrial radioisotopes and was later privatised in 1982 as Amersham plc
. British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) took over nuclear fuel and weapons material producing activities: the manufacturing plant at Springfields, the enrichment plant at Capenhurst
, the spent-fuel facility at Windscale, and the dual-purpose Calder Hall and Chapelcross
military plutonium
producing reactors.
The Atomic Energy Authority (Weapons Group) Act 1973 transferred responsibility for management of the UK's nuclear deterrent, including the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston
, directly to the Ministry of Defence
.
In 1982 the Authority was involved in the creation of Nirex
, to develop and operate radioactive waste disposal facilities in the UK.
The Atomic Energy Authority Act 1986 put the Authority into trading fund
mode, requiring it to act and account as though it were a commercial enterprise and become self financing.
The Authority was then split again by the Atomic Energy Authority Act 1995, with the more commercial parts transferred into a public company AEA Technology
, which was then floated on the London Stock Exchange
in 1996. The nuclear facilities used for the UK's research and development program, which held large decommissioning liabilities, were retained. The role of the Authority became to decommission these nuclear assets and to restore the environment around the sites. From the early 1990s the Authority completed more decommissioning work than anyone in Europe, and had considerable success in regenerating former nuclear sites for commercial use.
Following the Energy Act 2004
, on 1 April 2005 the UK's specialist nuclear police force, the UK Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary
, was reconstituted as the Civil Nuclear Constabulary
. Responsibility for the force was also removed from the Authority and transferred to the Civil Nuclear Police Authority
. The 2004 Act also established the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
(NDA), which on 1 April 2005 took ownership and responsibility for the liabilities relating to the clean up of UK nuclear sites. The Authority became a contractor for the NDA for the decommssioning work at Dounreay, Harwell, Windscale, Winfrith and the JET facilities at Culham.
On 1 April 2008, the Authority announced a major re-structuring to meet its decommissioning obligations with the NDA. A new wholly owned subsidiary, UKAEA Limited, was formed with established expertise from the existing company, to focus on nuclear decommissioning and environmental restoration management and consultancy in the UK and international markets.
At the same time, Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) was formed out of the existing Authority team at Dounreay and was licensed by the Health and Safety Executive
to operate the site and carry out its decommissioning under the Authority’s management. DSRL became a subsidiary of UKAEA Limited.
In parallel with these changes, the site at Windscale in Cumbria was transferred to Sellafield Ltd, a site licence company under contract to the NDA, following close review and scrutiny by the Health and Safety Executive
and environmental and security regulators. The majority of Authority employees at the site transferred to Sellafield Ltd.
On 2 February 2009, the Authority announced the next stage in re-structuring. Research Sites Restoration Limited (RSRL), was formed from the existing teams at Harwell in Oxfordshire and Winfrith in Dorset and licensed by the Health and Safety Executive
to operate those sites. RSRL continued the decommissioning programmes for Harwell and Winfrith on behalf of the NDA. RSRL also became a subsidiary of UKAEA Limited.
In October 2009, Babcock International Group
plc acquired UKAEA Limited, the nuclear clean-up subsidiary of the Authority, including its subsidiary companies DSRL and RSRL.
In 2009 the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy
(CCFE) was launched as the new name for the home of UK fusion research.
Authority site locations:
Historical site locations:
in Caithness
as the centre of research and development.
Three reactors, chemical plants and various laboratory and waste facilities were built there. The first nuclear reaction in Scotland occurred at Dounreay in a test cell in 1957 and the site's material test reactor was the first nuclear reactor in Scotland. The experimental fast breeder reactor, housed in a sphere, operated until 1977. In 1962, it became the first fast reactor in the world to supply electricity to a national grid, proving the concept.
A larger prototype fast reactor went critical at Dounreay in 1974, but hopes of commercial development of fast reactors in the UK receded in the 1980s. In 1988, the UK Government announced fast reactors would not be required for the foreseeable future. Reactor operations ceased at Dounreay in 1994 and reprocessing of irradiated fuel came to a halt in 1996 as a result of a plant breakdown which the Government in 2001 decided not to repair.
An audit of safety by regulators in 1998 proved a turning point in the history of the site, signalling the end of all nuclear operations and the beginning of the site closure programme. The original timescale for decommissioning of 100 years has been reduced steadily. Currently, the clean-out and demolition of all the redundant facilities is scheduled for completion by 2025. Hazardous intermediate-level waste will remain in secure, above-ground stores beyond this date pending a national policy for its long-term management. Access to areas of land contaminated with radioactivity is likely to be restricted until 2300. There is a debate about whether to retain the sphere as an industrial and architectural monument to the site's leading world role in the 20th century.
The major hazards at Dounreay today consist of the liquid metals used as coolant in the fast reactors and the liquid wastes generated from reprocessing. Other clean-up tasks include an unlined vertical shaft used to dispose of intermediate-level waste until an explosion in 1977 and radioactive particles polluting the nearby seabed and beaches.
Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd (DSRL) manages the clean-up on behalf of the NDA. DSRL is part of UKAEA Ltd and is now owned by Babcock International. Annual turnover is approximately £150m a year and the site employs approximately 2000 people, representing one in every five jobs in the local economy. A partnership of public agencies has published an action plan to regenerate the local economy and end its dependence on the nuclear industry.
Fusion power
Fusion power is the power generated by nuclear fusion processes. In fusion reactions two light atomic nuclei fuse together to form a heavier nucleus . In doing so they release a comparatively large amount of energy arising from the binding energy due to the strong nuclear force which is manifested...
. It is an executive non-departmental public body
Non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...
of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is a ministerial department of the United Kingdom Government created on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform .-Ministers:The BIS...
and was formerly chaired by Lady Barbara Judge CBE
CBE
CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
.
On its formation in 1954, the Authority was responsible for the UK's entire nuclear program, both civil and defence, as well as the policing of nuclear sites. It made pioneering developments in nuclear power, overseeing the peaceful development of nuclear technology and performing much scientific research. However since the early 1970s its areas of work have been gradually reduced, with functions transferred to other government organisations as well as to the private sector.
The Authority now focuses on UK and European fusion power research programs at Culham
Culham
Culham is a village and civil parish on the north bank of the River Thames, just over south of Abingdon in Oxfordshire.-Manor:The toponym comes from the Old English Cula's hamm, referring to the village's position in a bend of the Thames...
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, including the world's most powerful fusion device, the Joint European Torus
Joint European Torus
JET, the Joint European Torus, is the largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment worldwide currently in operation. Its main purpose is to open the way to future nuclear fusion experimental tokamak reactors such as ITER and :DEMO....
. The research aims to develop fusion power as a commercially viable, environmentally sound energy source for the future.
The Authority also remains responsible for managing the records service for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom formed by the Energy Act 2004. It came into existence in late 2004, and took on its main functions on 1 April 2005...
.
History
The Authority was established as a statutory corporationStatutory Corporation
A statutory corporation or public body is a corporation created by statute. While artificial legal personality is almost always the result of statutory intervention, a statutory corporation does not include corporations owned by shareholders whose legal personality derives from being registered...
on 19 July 1954 when the Atomic Energy Authority Act 1954 received Royal Assent and gave Authority the power “to produce, use and dispose of atomic energy and carry out research into any matters therewith”.
Following the Atomic Energy Authority Act 1971, the Authority was split into three, with only research activities remaining with the Authority. The Radiochemical Centre Ltd took over production of medical and industrial radioisotopes and was later privatised in 1982 as Amersham plc
Amersham plc
Amersham plc was a UK pharmaceutical company, specializing in medical diagnostics and life science products. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was purchased by General Electric; it is now part of GE Healthcare.-History:The company had...
. British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) took over nuclear fuel and weapons material producing activities: the manufacturing plant at Springfields, the enrichment plant at Capenhurst
Capenhurst
Capenhurst is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England and located on the Wirral Peninsula to the south west of the town of Ellesmere Port...
, the spent-fuel facility at Windscale, and the dual-purpose Calder Hall and Chapelcross
Chapelcross nuclear power station
Chapelcross was a Magnox nuclear power plant located near the town of Annan in Dumfries and Galloway in south west Scotland. It was the sister plant to Calder Hall in Cumbria, England, both commissioned and originally operated by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.The primary purpose of...
military plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
producing reactors.
The Atomic Energy Authority (Weapons Group) Act 1973 transferred responsibility for management of the UK's nuclear deterrent, including the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston
Aldermaston
Aldermaston is a rural village, civil parish and electoral ward in Berkshire, South-East England. In the 2001 United Kingdom Census, the parish had a population of 927. The village is on the southern edge of the River Kennet flood plain, near the Hampshire county boundary...
, directly to the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
.
In 1982 the Authority was involved in the creation of Nirex
NIREX
Nirex was a United Kingdom body set up in 1982 by the UK nuclear industry to examine safe, environmental and economic aspects of deep geological disposal of intermediate-level and low-level radioactive waste....
, to develop and operate radioactive waste disposal facilities in the UK.
The Atomic Energy Authority Act 1986 put the Authority into trading fund
Trading Fund
A trading fund is a UK executive agency, government department or part of a department, which has been established as such by means of a Trading Fund Order made under the Government Trading Funds Act 1973....
mode, requiring it to act and account as though it were a commercial enterprise and become self financing.
The Authority was then split again by the Atomic Energy Authority Act 1995, with the more commercial parts transferred into a public company AEA Technology
AEA Technology
AEA Technology plc was formed in 1996 as the privatised offshoot of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. It is a constituent of the FTSE Fledgling Index. Originally it consisted of divisions with expertise in a wide variety of areas, mostly the products of nuclear-related research...
, which was then floated on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
in 1996. The nuclear facilities used for the UK's research and development program, which held large decommissioning liabilities, were retained. The role of the Authority became to decommission these nuclear assets and to restore the environment around the sites. From the early 1990s the Authority completed more decommissioning work than anyone in Europe, and had considerable success in regenerating former nuclear sites for commercial use.
Following the Energy Act 2004
Energy Act 2004
The Energy Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-Section 198 - Short title, commencement and extent:The following orders have been made under this section:* *...
, on 1 April 2005 the UK's specialist nuclear police force, the UK Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary
UK Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary
The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary was the armed security police force of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. The force existed for 50 years, up until 1 April 2005....
, was reconstituted as the Civil Nuclear Constabulary
Civil Nuclear Constabulary
The Civil Nuclear Constabulary is a special police force responsible for providing law enforcement and security at civil nuclear installations, and for nuclear materials in transit, throughout the United Kingdom....
. Responsibility for the force was also removed from the Authority and transferred to the Civil Nuclear Police Authority
Civil Nuclear Police Authority
The Civil Nuclear Police Authority is the police authority that oversees the Civil Nuclear Constabulary. A police authority is a body corporate in the United Kingdom that defines strategic plans for a police force and provides accountability so that the police function "efficiently and...
. The 2004 Act also established the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom formed by the Energy Act 2004. It came into existence in late 2004, and took on its main functions on 1 April 2005...
(NDA), which on 1 April 2005 took ownership and responsibility for the liabilities relating to the clean up of UK nuclear sites. The Authority became a contractor for the NDA for the decommssioning work at Dounreay, Harwell, Windscale, Winfrith and the JET facilities at Culham.
On 1 April 2008, the Authority announced a major re-structuring to meet its decommissioning obligations with the NDA. A new wholly owned subsidiary, UKAEA Limited, was formed with established expertise from the existing company, to focus on nuclear decommissioning and environmental restoration management and consultancy in the UK and international markets.
At the same time, Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) was formed out of the existing Authority team at Dounreay and was licensed by the Health and Safety Executive
Health and Safety Executive
The Health and Safety Executive is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It is the body responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in England and Wales and Scotland...
to operate the site and carry out its decommissioning under the Authority’s management. DSRL became a subsidiary of UKAEA Limited.
In parallel with these changes, the site at Windscale in Cumbria was transferred to Sellafield Ltd, a site licence company under contract to the NDA, following close review and scrutiny by the Health and Safety Executive
Health and Safety Executive
The Health and Safety Executive is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It is the body responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in England and Wales and Scotland...
and environmental and security regulators. The majority of Authority employees at the site transferred to Sellafield Ltd.
On 2 February 2009, the Authority announced the next stage in re-structuring. Research Sites Restoration Limited (RSRL), was formed from the existing teams at Harwell in Oxfordshire and Winfrith in Dorset and licensed by the Health and Safety Executive
Health and Safety Executive
The Health and Safety Executive is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It is the body responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in England and Wales and Scotland...
to operate those sites. RSRL continued the decommissioning programmes for Harwell and Winfrith on behalf of the NDA. RSRL also became a subsidiary of UKAEA Limited.
In October 2009, Babcock International Group
Babcock International Group
Babcock International Group plc is a British-based support services company specialising in managing complex assets and infrastructure in safety-critical and mission-critical environments. Although the company has civil contracts, its main business is with public bodies, particularly the UK...
plc acquired UKAEA Limited, the nuclear clean-up subsidiary of the Authority, including its subsidiary companies DSRL and RSRL.
In 2009 the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy
Culham Centre for Fusion Energy
The Culham Centre for Fusion Energy , located at the Culham Science Centre, near Culham, Oxfordshire, is the site of the Joint European Torus , Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak and the now closed Small Tight Aspect Ratio Tokamak .Since September 2008 the director has been Professor Steven Cowley, and...
(CCFE) was launched as the new name for the home of UK fusion research.
Authority site locations:
- Culham Science Centre, CulhamCulhamCulham is a village and civil parish on the north bank of the River Thames, just over south of Abingdon in Oxfordshire.-Manor:The toponym comes from the Old English Cula's hamm, referring to the village's position in a bend of the Thames...
, OxfordshireOxfordshireOxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire .... - Atomic Energy Research EstablishmentAtomic Energy Research EstablishmentThe Atomic Energy Research Establishment near Harwell, Oxfordshire, was the main centre for atomic energy research and development in the United Kingdom from the 1940s to the 1990s.-Founding:...
, Harwell, OxfordshireHarwell, OxfordshireHarwell is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse west of Didcot. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.-Amenities:...
Historical site locations:
- Atomic Weapons EstablishmentAtomic Weapons EstablishmentThe Atomic Weapons Establishment is responsible for the design, manufacture and support of warheads for the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent. AWE plc is responsible for the day-to-day operations of AWE...
, AldermastonAldermastonAldermaston is a rural village, civil parish and electoral ward in Berkshire, South-East England. In the 2001 United Kingdom Census, the parish had a population of 927. The village is on the southern edge of the River Kennet flood plain, near the Hampshire county boundary...
, BerkshireBerkshireBerkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and... - CapenhurstCapenhurstCapenhurst is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England and located on the Wirral Peninsula to the south west of the town of Ellesmere Port...
(near ChesterChesterChester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
) - Chapelcross nuclear power stationChapelcross nuclear power stationChapelcross was a Magnox nuclear power plant located near the town of Annan in Dumfries and Galloway in south west Scotland. It was the sister plant to Calder Hall in Cumbria, England, both commissioned and originally operated by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.The primary purpose of...
, Chapelcross (near Annan, Dumfries and GallowayAnnan, Dumfries and GallowayThe royal burgh of Annan is a well-built town, red sandstone being the material mainly used. Each year in July, Annan celebrates the Royal Charter and the boundaries of the Royal Burgh are confirmed when a mounted cavalcade undertakes the Riding of the Marches. Entertainment includes a...
) - CulchethCulchethCulcheth is a large village approximately 6 miles north-east of Warrington, England. It is the principal settlement in Culcheth and Glazebury civil parish. The village has many amenities which make it a popular place to live. These include a library, a village hall, sports facilities, two...
(near WarringtonWarringtonWarrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
) - Daresbury LaboratoryDaresbury LaboratoryDaresbury Laboratory is a scientific research laboratory near Daresbury in Cheshire, England, which began operations in 1962 and was officially opened on 16 June 1967 as the Daresbury Nuclear Physics Laboratory by the then Prime Minister of United Kingdom, Harold Wilson...
, DaresburyDaresburyDaresbury is a small rural village, civil parish and ward in the unitary authority of Halton and part of the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is covered by the Weaver Vale constituency...
(near WarringtonWarringtonWarrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
) - DounreayDounreayDounreay is the site of several nuclear research establishments located on the north coast of Caithness, in the Highland area of Scotland...
, CaithnessCaithnessCaithness is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is... - Windscale (now part of SellafieldSellafieldSellafield is a nuclear reprocessing site, close to the village of Seascale on the coast of the Irish Sea in Cumbria, England. The site is served by Sellafield railway station. Sellafield is an off-shoot from the original nuclear reactor site at Windscale which is currently undergoing...
) - Risley (near WarringtonWarringtonWarrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
) - Springfields (near Preston)
- WinfrithWinfrithWinfrith was a United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority site near Winfrith Newburgh in Dorset. It covered an area on Bovington Heath to the west of the village of Wool between the A352 road and the London Waterloo to Weymouth railway line....
, DorsetDorsetDorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
Dounreay
In the 1950s, the UK Government was persuaded to invest in the development of fast breeder reactors as a more efficient means of generating electricity from the country's scarce supplies of uranium. Following early research at Harwell in Oxfordshire, the Government in 1954 selected DounreayDounreay
Dounreay is the site of several nuclear research establishments located on the north coast of Caithness, in the Highland area of Scotland...
in Caithness
Caithness
Caithness is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is...
as the centre of research and development.
Three reactors, chemical plants and various laboratory and waste facilities were built there. The first nuclear reaction in Scotland occurred at Dounreay in a test cell in 1957 and the site's material test reactor was the first nuclear reactor in Scotland. The experimental fast breeder reactor, housed in a sphere, operated until 1977. In 1962, it became the first fast reactor in the world to supply electricity to a national grid, proving the concept.
A larger prototype fast reactor went critical at Dounreay in 1974, but hopes of commercial development of fast reactors in the UK receded in the 1980s. In 1988, the UK Government announced fast reactors would not be required for the foreseeable future. Reactor operations ceased at Dounreay in 1994 and reprocessing of irradiated fuel came to a halt in 1996 as a result of a plant breakdown which the Government in 2001 decided not to repair.
An audit of safety by regulators in 1998 proved a turning point in the history of the site, signalling the end of all nuclear operations and the beginning of the site closure programme. The original timescale for decommissioning of 100 years has been reduced steadily. Currently, the clean-out and demolition of all the redundant facilities is scheduled for completion by 2025. Hazardous intermediate-level waste will remain in secure, above-ground stores beyond this date pending a national policy for its long-term management. Access to areas of land contaminated with radioactivity is likely to be restricted until 2300. There is a debate about whether to retain the sphere as an industrial and architectural monument to the site's leading world role in the 20th century.
The major hazards at Dounreay today consist of the liquid metals used as coolant in the fast reactors and the liquid wastes generated from reprocessing. Other clean-up tasks include an unlined vertical shaft used to dispose of intermediate-level waste until an explosion in 1977 and radioactive particles polluting the nearby seabed and beaches.
Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd (DSRL) manages the clean-up on behalf of the NDA. DSRL is part of UKAEA Ltd and is now owned by Babcock International. Annual turnover is approximately £150m a year and the site employs approximately 2000 people, representing one in every five jobs in the local economy. A partnership of public agencies has published an action plan to regenerate the local economy and end its dependence on the nuclear industry.
See also
- Atomic Energy Authority ActAtomic Energy Authority ActAtomic Energy Authority Act is a stock short title used for legislation in the United Kingdom relating to the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority....
- Atomic Energy Research EstablishmentAtomic Energy Research EstablishmentThe Atomic Energy Research Establishment near Harwell, Oxfordshire, was the main centre for atomic energy research and development in the United Kingdom from the 1940s to the 1990s.-Founding:...
- BNFLBNFLBritish Nuclear Fuels Limited was a nuclear energy and fuels company owned by the UK Government. It was a former manufacturer and transporter of nuclear fuel , ran reactors, generated and sold electricity, reprocessed and managed spent fuel , and decommissioned nuclear plants and other similar...
- John DolphinJohn DolphinJohn Robert Vernon Dolphin CBE was a British engineer and inventor who became the Commanding Officer of the top secret Second World War Special Operations Executive 'Station IX' where specialist military equipment was developed. During his time there his inventions included the Welman midget...
CBE - Barbara, Lady Judge CBE
- Nuclear Decommissioning AuthorityNuclear Decommissioning AuthorityThe Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom formed by the Energy Act 2004. It came into existence in late 2004, and took on its main functions on 1 April 2005...
- Nuclear power in the United KingdomNuclear power in the United KingdomNuclear power currently generates around a sixth of the United Kingdom's electricity. As of 2011, the United Kingdom operates 19 nuclear reactors at nine locations...
- UK Atomic Energy Authority ConstabularyUK Atomic Energy Authority ConstabularyThe United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary was the armed security police force of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. The force existed for 50 years, up until 1 April 2005....
- CND
External links
- Official Website
- Culham Centre for Fusion Energy Website
- UKAEA Ltd Website
- Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) Website
- Research Sites Restoration Limited (RSRL) Website
- UKAEA History – The First Fifty Years
- http://www.thepeakist.com/dounreays-catalogue-of-idiocy/
- Harry Cartwright - Daily Telegraph obituary