TAILS MANAGEMENT | FUEL & FUEL CYCLE


those with new facilities. This capacity programme is a really important part of how we deal with our tails, how we deal with creating new product.” He adds: “LIke any owner of a manufacturing facility, we


have aging equipment and we are replenishing that with new. With regards to refurb, it is no less complex or difficult. However, if you imagine we would over time replenish or refurbish some of our centrifuges, they do get old, some of them break down and that’s what the refurbishment campaign does, but it’s done over a sustained period of time and it’s at higher volumes than what we’ve done in recent decades.”


TMF expansion project Referring to the Capenhurst TMF Stephens says: “We’re talking about an extension to an existing facility using the same technology that we have on kilns one and two. It’s purely an extension project it’s not new technology.” Nonetheless, the new facility will see some limited


updates. “When you buy engineered packages, systems and technology, they tend to become obsolescent over time but, essentially, we’re buying a very similar technology. The [existing UK] Tails Facility has been in operation since 2021 and finished construction in 2019.” However, he emphasises that while there are some


limited upgrades any changes only represent incremental improvements: “Our capacity programme is more of an evolutionary step than a revolutionary step. We’re replacing old existing centrifuges with new because they have an end of life. There are some certain 2.0 pieces that we have included, but they’re more around energy demand. They use much less electricity than they did before and they’re part of the continuous improvement efforts that we do. As an organisation that has agreed and signed to the climate pledge, part of what we do is look at how we can reduce our existing energy demand. Everything that we do is towards being a sustainable organization, meeting our net zero pledges, but also being good nuclear stewards.” Indeed, Urenco is responsible for the safe and secure


storage of tails for enrichment at a future date at enrichment sites or deconversion and the TMF is used for


all Urenco’s tails it’s obligated to deal with or dispose of. As Stephens says: “Converting it to a safe form for storage and for reuse at another date is how we manage tails and we’re obligated to do that as the enricher. Everything that we enrich we have to take nuclear stewardship responsibility for that.” This excludes sites in the USA where the US Department of Energy is obligated to manage tails. The TMF expansion is a substantial undertaking,


effectively doubling tails management capacity, as Stephens notes: “We’ve got two kilns so we’ll at least double the amount of volume that we do now when we bring kilns three and four on online. Considering the amount of SWU we do a year, we take responsibility for the tails but not all of that will be done at TMF. We can store tails as well at our enrichment sites, for example. We have licences with the respective regulators that permit us only to store a certain amount. That’s why we have to do that processing work.” “By expanding our Tails Management Facility from two


to four kilns, it’ll enable us to process greater volumes and because we’ll be increasing our enrichment process we’ll have tails. We will take care of the end product of our enrichment services. That’s what TMF is designed to do,” Stephens adds. Responsible nuclear stewardship is a clear strategy for


Urenco. The company is already planning to site a Waste Metals Facility (WMF) at Capenhurst to manage metal waste product and residues as part of the programme to refurbish and renew plant across the company. Work has begun on further design activities, safety case development, preliminary waste acceptance criteria and procurement of long-lead items.


Ramping up recruitment As part of the capacity programme, Urenco is also looking to increase staff numbers to match. “We are currently ramping up in our capacity expansion efforts to bring the necessary people into the organisation,” says Stephens. Like much of the nuclear industry, that is potentially


problematic but, according to Stephens, Urenco has managed the process quite effectively: “I think initially the sheer numbers of people looked daunting from the


Above: The Tails Management Facility is being expanded in response to changing market dynamics Source: Urenco www.neimagazine.com | November 2023 | 15


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