LEGACY POND TREATMENT | COVER STORY
decontamination costs
Cutting
Collaborative research is helping Sellafield manage and treat radioactive effluents from its large and complex site. By exploring radionuclide, mineral and microbial behaviour in waste pond environments and during effluent treatment processes, the projects are helping to cut the costs of decontamination
WORK INVOLVING PROFESSOR KATHERINE MORRIS at the University of Manchester Dalton Nuclear Institute reduced both the cost of decommissioning at Sellafield and discharges into the Irish Sea. The research impact was cited in the university’s Research Excellence Framework submission. The Dalton Nuclear Institute at the University of Manchester is associated with the Sellafield Effluent and Decontamination Centre of Expertise (E&DCE), supported by Sellafield Ltd and the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory. It carries out research into management and treatment of radioactive effluents. Formed in 2012, the E&DCE’s aim was to “provide fundamental understanding of the underlying processes impacting on effluent management… which in turn provides direct cost savings and risk reduction and therefore increases stakeholder confidence in operational activities”. Technical meetings are held between the partners to plan research and discuss results as they are obtained. It has been the route to transfer state-of-the
art research methodologies from academia (including Transmission Electron Microscopy, preparation methods and microbial ecology characterisation) directly into industry. Kath Morris is Professor of Environmental Radiochemistry
and Environment and Waste Lead at the Institute. The team explored radionuclide, mineral and microbial behaviour in waste pond environments, and radionuclide and mineral behaviour during effluent treatment processes. The research findings were shared between industry and academic partners, enabling Sellafield Ltd to improve efficiency and safety. Talking about how input from partners at Sellafield and NNL help translate fundamental research into practical actions on site, Morris told NEI: “The careful exchange of information across the Centre of Expertise, with frequent meetings between academic researchers and subject matter experts has really enabled optimised translation of research from the lab scale through to plant scale.”
Above: Sellafield is working on radionuclide, mineral and microbial behaviour in waste pond environments, and radionuclide and mineral behaviour during effluent treatment processes All images courtesy of Sellafield Ltd
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