Actavo secures Magnox Sizewell Award
As part of Sizewell A’s decommissioning, Magnox Ltd has appointed Actavo | Industrial Solutions to deliver a £400,000 contract for an access and egress, waste-handling building which will be used to remove radioactive debris from the ponds as part of the ponds decommissioning programme.
The new building will play an integral part in radioactive waste removal, with the access and egress platform to be used to systematically transfer low and intermediate level radioactive waste from the ponds to an area where it can be managed under the site’s existing waste management arrangements. This is a procedure requiring stringent planning and control.
The pond access platform project is a turnkey contract. Actavo has taken responsibility for delivering a completed building, including enabling works, civils, mechanical and electrical, cladding and roofing. through to commissioning and testing a monorail lifting beam with an integral 6.3 tonne electrical hoist.
For many years, a wide range of disciplines from Actavo’s engineering force has worked on several Magnox sites, including Sizewell, Oldbury, Bradwell and Berkeley. This is the first time the company has concurrently coordinated six, tier-three (T3) contractors in a construction project.
“We’ve played various roles in decommissioning nuclear power plants, from asbestos removal to protective painting,” says Jim Gray, site manager of Actavo | Industrial Solutions who has been on Sizewell A for 21 years, 15 of them with Actavo. “Last year, we completed a massive lightning protection project covering both internal and external buildings and plant at Sizewell A. The ponds project requires precision planning so we can all work safely and efficiently. You must know exactly where and when you need every MEWP (mobile elevated work platform), abseiler or fork-lift, including the T3 contractors.”
“At Sizewell A, we have had a long-term partnership of working with Actavo on a range of different decommissioning projects and programmes. This gave us confidence that this work will be delivered safely, as well as in line with Magnox’s own arrangements for delivering work. We were pleased to be able to offer them the opportunity to quote for this work through our existing framework arrangements.”
Steve Franks
Ponds Programme Delivery Manager at Magnox Ltd
Work started in August 2016 and the building will be handed over in January 2017. “Work is on schedule,” says Jim Gray, “but it is open to the elements. We have done our best to mitigate the risk of the British climate taking a turn for the worse, but we have worked with many of these T3 partners before and have always found a way through it.”
Actavo | Industrial Solutions has also been awarded two new contracts as part of the ponds decommissioning programme: supporting the installation of a new vent plant system to the ponds building and new, covered, walkway gantries. This means Actavo is now managing twelve T3 contractors at Sizewell A.