The big clean-up
Links with the Royal Academy of Engineering feed
valuable practical information into the NDA’s task of
decommissioning the UK’s civil nuclear sites
The Nuclear Decommissioning
Authority (NDA) and the Royal
Academy of Engineering are jointly
supporting Professor Neil Hyatt’s
Research Chair at the University of
Sheffield. Dr Darrell Morris, Research
Manager at the NDA, said, “As a
strategic organisation, a collaboration
of this kind is very important to us and
we have found the outcomes to be
extremely valuable. Fellows of the
Royal Academy of Engineering who
are involved in the nuclear industry
have also taken a personal interest
in Professor Hyatt’s work and that
has been a big benefit. We are now
considering whether to extend this
partnership with other institutions.”
Dr Dame Susan Ion DBE FREng, who
is the Academy’s mentor to Professor
Hyatt said, “It is vital that confidence
is built in our ability to provide robust
engineering solutions to the problem
of nuclear waste disposal if we are
to progress the desired new nuclear
build ambitions the UK so desperately
needs. Professor Hyatt’s work has
been fundamental to increased
understanding and the development
of new techniques in the area of
radioactive waste management. His
expertise was utilised extensively in
the aftermath of the
Japanese earthquake and tsunami
which affected the reactors at
Fukushima”.
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PECM Issue 16
Background of the NDA and
establishment of a Research
Chair with the Royal Academy of
Engineering
The Nuclear Decommissioning
Authority was set up by the 2004
Energy Act to oversee the process
of decommissioning and cleaning up
the UK sites that have been used
for generating civil nuclear energy.
Reporting to the Department of
Energy and Climate Change, it
is funded by a combination of
government funding and income
from its commercial operations (e.g.
electricity generation from Wylfa Power
Station). The NDA is responsible for
developing the estate-wide strategy
while decommissioning activities
are delivered by the Site Licence
Companies (SLCs) such as Sellafield
Ltd.
Research and development (R&D) is
mostly carried out by the SLCs and
their supply chains, who develop
and deploy technologies that are
specific to their particular sites. The
NDA has overall responsibility for
the mission, and has to ensure the
work is underpinned by sufficient and
appropriate R&D.
In practice, this means that the NDA
takes a technical oversight role on
the site-specific R&D, while also
looking out for any areas of overlap,
duplication, or potential to be applied
elsewhere on the estate. In addition
to the site-focused R&D, the NDA
also funds R&D directly through its
Direct Research Portfolio (DRP) and
collaborations with other organisations,
such as the Technology Strategy
Board. The DRP focuses on supporting
the development of the NDA’s strategy,
delivering multi-site innovation and
maintaining key technical skills.
This is carried out through R&D
projects commissioned through
universities and research organisations
such as the National Nuclear
Laboratory.
Professor Hyatt’s work on radioactive
waste immobilisation, management
and disposal applies to all three
aspects of the NDA’s DRP. For
example, his research into materials to
immobilise plutonium is supporting the
development of strategic options for
the long-term management of the UK’s
stock of civil plutonium. He has also
carried out research into alternative
technologies for the management
of nuclear waste which may offer
advantages over the current approach
of immobilising the waste in cement.
Maintaining capability in nuclear waste
immobilisation at an academic level is
also important to the NDA. Dr Morris
said, “We are very much looking for
leadership from an academic