Magnox Decommissioning

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) selected the Cavendish Fluor Partnership (CFP) to decommission 12 nuclear sites located throughout England, Wales, and Scotland. All of those sites were in various stages of shutdown when the NDA awarded the contract to the Cavendish Fluor Partnership, except for Wylfa nuclear station and the Maentwrog hydroelectric station, which were still generating power. Those 12 sites comprise 10 Magnox and two Research Sites Restoration Limited sites, which together, provided nuclear power to the United Kingdom for more than four decades.

The NDA is the government agency responsible for managing the effective and efficient clean-up of the UK's nuclear legacy. This includes the first generation of Magnox power stations, as well as various nuclear research and fuel facilities.

Successful execution involves assuming responsibility for two site license companies – Magnox and RSRL, and the 12 nuclear licensed sites. There are more than 4,300 employees at those sites, along with 27 nuclear reactors and one hydroelectric generating station.

In 2015, CFP successfully combined the two site license companies into a single entity known as Magnox Ltd.

After 44 years of operation, the Wylfa Nuclear Power Generating Station ceased operations on December 30, 2015. Fluor played a key role in helping the NDA reach this milestone. The end of nuclear power generation at the Wylfa plant signaled the end of one era, and the beginning of another. Wylfa was the last working Magnox-fueled reactor in the world. In operation since 1971, the plant provided enough electricity to power every single home in Wales throughout its lifespan.

In October 2016, Magnox Ltd. reached a milestone at the Bradwell Power Station, announcing that cleanup crews have decontaminated approximately 33,000 square feet of surface area to date. Bradwell, located about two hours northeast of London, is one of the 12 nuclear sites Magnox Ltd. is decommissioning for the NDA.

Client's Challenge

The Client's overarching goal for the contract is to achieve a care and maintenance (C&M) status for each of the sites by 2028. To achieve C&M, the Cavendish Fluor Partnership will place the reactors in a “safestore” state, build an interim storage facility for Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) at most sites, and demolish all other structures to below ground level.

Fluor's Solution

The Cavendish Fluor Partnership brings international decommissioning, operational, and site expertise to the project, with the objective of delivering the program safely and cost effectively.

The contract scope includes:

Reactor operation and maintenance
Nuclear site infrastructure and asset management
Spent nuclear fuel (SNF) handling, packaging, and transportation
SNF disposition management and integration for the entire NDA estate
Site security

Fuel storage pond cleanout, decontamination, draining, and decommissioning
Waste operations and legacy waste treatment, packaging, storage, transportation, and disposal
Decontamination and decommissioning of plants and structures
Contaminated land remediation
Preparing reactors for “safestore”
Regulator, stakeholder, and community engagement

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Conclusion

The Magnox decommissioning contract is a 13.5-year contract divided into two phases. The first phase is 6.5 years and valued at more than $3.6 billion. This contract is a “One Fluor” project, joining the nuclear decommissioning talent of Fluor's Government Group with the strong UK engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance capability of Fluor's Farnborough Office.

Images courtesy of Magnox.