Sunday 25 May 2014

Now in its third year, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) Estate Supply Chain Event 2013 took place in Manchester recently. NNL was among the exhibitors and sent a strong delegation. The event is a combination of informal networking, seminars, presentations and exhibitions. NNL had great success in winning a NDA Supply Chain Award during the event and also made the shortlist in another very competitive category. NNL won the award for:

‘Best Innovative Solution from a Larger Supplier’

The award was presented to Graham MacKay and Steve Parkin, members of the Particle, Sludge and Slurry Science team in the NNL Waste Management and Decommissioning business. The award winning project has produced test sludges being used to underpin process development for the new Sellafield Direct Encapsulation Plant. The team has delivered non-radioactive replicated sludges using legacy magnesium metal obtained from Westinghouse.

They also used equipment recycled from other projects and second hand purchases from other industries. This resulted in a cost saving to the customer, Sellafield Ltd, of over 60%.

Also shortlisted was the NNL Vitrification Test Rig for its support to Sellafield Ltd. The team is also part of Waste Management and Decommissioning and was nominated in the category:

Best Example of a Supplier ‘Going the Extra Mile’

The VTR has demonstrated exceptional commitment to the operation of the Waste Vitrification Plant (WVP) at Sellafield. WVP processes high level waste into a glass based matrix designed for long term storage. The NNL VTR team is renowned for providing expert support, rapid response and problem resolution often at short notice. More recently, their technical support was fundamental in maximising WVP melter lifetimes. This resulted in a world-beating 438 pours being achieved earlier this year. Longer melter lifetimes reduce major site hazard and have the potential to make very significant cost savings over the remaining lifetime of WVP.