NPL and Sellafield sign four-year framework agreement

2 minute read

NPL and Sellafield have signed a long-term framework agreement, stating a commitment to collaborate further on new measurement research projects. 

For many years, encapsulated waste products have been stored at the Sellafield Ltd nuclear site, and over the next decade, retrievals from legacy ponds and silos will generate more. As Sellafield moves to waste management and remediation, the range of waste products is also expected to increase. 

It is vital that inspection of the waste stores and their key properties is undertaken to ensure safe storage, for example, that no physical degradation has taken place. 

However, with many thousands of packages located in engineered stores, it is too time-consuming to manually extract and inspect them all. Many packages are stored underwater, presenting a further inspection challenge. Therefore, in-situ measurement techniques are required to demonstrate appropriate store and waste package control, allowing appropriate mitigating action when necessary, and reducing both the potential for human error and the dose to workers who currently provide ad-hoc measurement capability. 

The new agreement builds on the existing working relationship between the two organisations and will support a number of new R&D projects aiming to implement NPL’s metrology capability and traceable measurements. In doing so, NPL are supporting Sellafield’s nuclear decommissioning mission. 

Dr Cyrus Larijani, Strategic Business Development Manager, said: “I am delighted that our long running partnership with Sellafield Ltd has been extended for another four years, allowing for plenty of future collaborations in nuclear decommissioning

Find out more about NPL’s work with Sellafield on reliable temperature measurement

Find out more about NPL’s work with Sellafield on improved understanding of stored Nuclear materials

Find out more about NPL’s work with Sellafield in monitoring temperature of Nuclear waste