The United Kingdom’s Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) as of Wednesday has complied with a 2015 regulatory demand that it improve management of higher-active radioactive waste at its Aldermaston site in Berkshire.
The U.K. Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) issued the improvement notice in July 2015 because the Defense Ministry contractor had not met the terms of a license instrument mandating that it reduce in volume and encapsulate 1,000 drums of radioactive waste no later than Feb. 20, 2014. The regulatory agency demanded that AWE suggest measures by Sept. 30 of this year that would demonstrate a long-term plan for preventing risk to the public and Aldermaston personnel “so far as reasonably practicable” from the management of higher-activity waste (HAW).
“AWE has now developed options for the management of HAW on the Aldermaston site which, if properly planned and implemented, will enable the risk to the health and safety of the public and employees to be reduced so far as reasonably practicable,” the Office for Nuclear Regulation said in a press release Wednesday. “In complying with the Improvement Notice, AWE has proposed activities that are focused on near term hazard reduction of the highest hazard waste packages and has committed to further demonstrate that the storage environment of the HAW inventory remains appropriate throughout the anticipated period of storage.”
The agency affirmed that the current waste storage situation is “acceptable” and does not pose any significant threat to Aldermaston personnel or the public.
ONR spokeswoman Jo deBank said by email Thursday the regulator could not provide details of the radioactive material in question: “[W]e do not discuss quantities and material held in detail on nuclear sites for reasons of national security.”
DeBank referred questions regarding the recommended radioactive waste management activities at Aldermaston to AWE; company spokeswoman Valerie Hincks said no one was available to discuss the matter.
Aldermaston provides research, design, and manufacturing in support of the U.K. Trident nuclear deterrent. It is one of several government-owned sites operated by AWE, a partnership of Jacobs Engineering, Lockheed Martin, and the Serco Group.
“AWE has been working towards this long-term strategy to meet our HAW regulatory requirements since 2011,” AWE Site Director Haydn Clulow said in a company statement. “This strategy accelerates waste hazard reduction at the Aldermaston site, with a corresponding risk reduction to the public, workers and environment.”
AWE’s Aldermaston and Burghfield sites are under “enhanced” regulatory focus from ONR, according to the agency’s 2015-2016 annual report. That is the middle tier of regulatory attention, below “significantly enhanced” and above “routine,” and involves devoting more ONR management time to the facility, deBank said.
“Central to this was AWE’s continued reliance on the use of ageing production facilities, delayed delivery of safety justifications for those facilities and delays to delivery of new build projects,” the annual report says. “Furthermore, a number of safety significant legacy issues in one of these facilities were not being acted on promptly by the licensee. AWE’s work to address these issues is now well advanced and will improve the safety of this facility.”
AWE must now take steps to enact its submitted options for waste management, and the Office for Nuclear Regulation will monitor the implementation plan, according to the release. DeBank said the implementation schedule could be included in a more detailed report due from ONR in the next couple weeks.
