Cyclife teams contributed to the rail transfer landmark of more than 1,000 stainless steel drums of low-level waste to Repository site

Cyclife has been involved since the early stages of the project planning, applying Best Available Techniques, assessing the safe transport and disposal of drums. The team at Cyclife UK with its own digital modelling support, DEMplus® for nuclear, has completed the initial optioneering, engineering development, off-site testing of more than 1,000 stainless steel drums of low-level waste handling equipment and the civil engineering enabling works.

The planning project of the rail transfer from the Winfrith Magnox site to the Low Level Waste Repository site has started five years ago, this project of transfer has involved Nuclear Waste Services, Magnox Ltd., Nuclear Transport Solutions, and sub-contractors.

“Cyclife is pleased to be part of the TRS drums disposal project and congratulates Magnox and Nuclear Waste Services on achieving the important milestone of the first shipment of drums from Winfrith to the Repository site. We have been pleased to be supported by React, Penny Nuclear, Tyson Burridge PDL and Stobbarts on this project.”, commented Joe Robinson, Managing Director of Cyclife UK.

In subsequent phases, Cyclife has led the design, development, methodology and testing of the equipment which will be utilised to emplace the drums into the vaults at the Repository site, and managed the on-site civil enabling works. Cyclife is currently preparing to lead the emplacement work on site later within 2022 using the remote tooling that has been selected, developed and trialled.

Winfrith Magnox site ceased its operation in 1990. More than 1,000 drums of waste originated from the Steam Generating Heavy Water Reactor at drums were placed in the Treated Radwaste Store (TRS) awaiting transfer to the Harwell Intermediate-Level Waste facility. Due to a period of sufficient radioactive decay, the waste’s radiation levels have been reclassified from intermediate-level to low-level waste, allowing early disposal at the Repository site with significant financial savings to the UK taxpayer.

“The project has significant benefits for Magnox as it allows a legacy waste to be completely removed and disposed early from the Winfrith site without the need for disposal to Geological Disposal Facility as planned. It also utilises difficult-to-access void spaces within the vaults before those vaults are finally capped and closed and therefore safeguards valuable disposal space in Vault 9 at the Repository site and therefore protects a national asset.”, concluded Joe Robinson.

Cyclife UK offers integrated decommissioning and waste management services to the UK civil and defence nuclear markets. One stop solutions such as that seen at Nuclear Waste Services answering the need to preserve disposal capacity.