Galson Sciences Ltd - Dounreay
- International review of approaches to Engineered Barrier Systems (EBS) and requirements on the EBS of LLW disposal facilities.
- Risk assessment for a LLW disposal site and for a simply engineered high-volume, low-active waste disposal site at Dounreay.
- Risk assessment for long-term, indefinite storage of LLW.
- Assessment of contamination migration from the wet silo using MODFLOW.
- Cost analysis for LLW disposal and storage options.
- Technical and economic analysis of sending LLW waste from Dounreay to the LLW repository (LLWR) near Drigg.
- Review of LLW treatment and packaging options.
- Development of positions on treatment of future human actions and consideration of institutional controls in risk analysis for the LLW management programme.
- Development and evaluation of a database of site monitoring data.
- Development of a database of regulatory requirements, and planning of work programmes to address outstanding requirements.
- Review and planning of site characterisation data and work programmes.
- Preparation of non-technical presentational material for stakeholder consultation.
- Planning for, and advice on, stakeholder and regulator consultation and dialogue.
- Facilitation and reporting of stakeholder consultation.
Each task was separately specified and costed prior to letting to GSL as a set of fixed-price packages of work. Individual task specifications and project budgets were approved by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) Project Manager. Altogether more than 30 separate tasks were specified, costed and approved over the duration of the project. Each task led to the production of one or more defined project deliverables against which the fixed-price orders were paid. The work required frequent contacts with the UKAEA Project Manager and members of his project team, and regular team meetings to discuss the progress of work.
Following support for strategy development for LLW management at Dounreay between 2000 and 2004, in 2005, as part of a team with Jacobs, we were awarded a contract to support UKAEA in the development of proposed new LLW facilities at Dounreay. GSL is responsible for the preparation and maintenance of an Environmental Safety Case (ESC) considering operational and post-closure safety for the proposed new LLW disposal facilities at the Dounreay site. This is the first ESC in the UK prepared for a proposed new LLW disposal facility against modern standards, and has been innovative in meeting the GRA ("Disposal Facilities on Land for Low and Intermediate Level Waste Disposal: Guidance on Requirements for Authorisation"). This work is intended to lead to establishment of an Authorisation for the proposed LLW disposal facility. The ESC is now publicly available and is under review by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). In addition to safety case preparation, we have developed and implemented performance assessment (PA) and site characterisation plans, Best Practicable Means (BPM) evaluations, siting work, regulatory dialogue, and stakeholder dialogue. We have also prepared an outline ESC for the Existing Pits LLW disposal facility on the Dounreay site. Current work is focused on developing a new site geological and hydrogeological models for use in a new PA and revised ESC for the proposed LLW disposal facilities. Work under this contract is scheduled to run to 2008 or longer.