What work is done at Dounreay?
Dounreay is responsible for the safe and secure clean-up of the Dounreay nuclear site. Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) is the site licence company responsible for the clean-up and demolition of Britain’s former centre of fast reactor research and development.
Is Dounreay still active?
In 2007, Dounreay, which is now being decommissioned, pleaded guilty at Wick sheriff court to a “failure to prevent fragments of irradiated nuclear fuel being discharged into the environment”. The plant’s operator at the time, the UK Atomic Energy Authority, was fined £140,000.
Why is Dounreay being decommissioned?
The site would then be decommissioned along with facilities at neighbouring UKAEA Dounreay. In January 2012, radiation was detected in the reactor’s coolant water, caused by a microscopic breach in fuel cladding.
How many people worked at Dounreay?
1000 people
We employ over 1000 people at the site and offer secure and rewarding work across a range of technical and support functions. We offer an excellent benefits package, including competitive salary, bonus scheme, pension plan, generous leave allowance and subsidised bus travel.
How many nuclear power stations are there in Scotland?
Scotland has two nuclear stations currently generating electricity, three civil nuclear sites at advanced stages of decommissioning, and three nuclear defence sites.
Why are breeder reactors not used?
Breeder reactors are costly to build and operate. Although it could be expected that once in production this cost ratio would decline, today few, if any, experts argue that breeder reactor capital costs could be less than 25 percent higher than that of similarly sized water cooled reactors.
How radioactive is Scotland?
In 2010, the average annual dose of radiation to someone living in Scotland was 2,300 microsieverts; this has fallen from 2,400 microsieverts in 2003. At 81%, the majority of the annual dose comes from natural sources. Total exposure to radiation has been mostly stable over time.
How long will it take to decommission Dounreay?
Built in the 1950s, it plunges 65.4m (214.5ft) below ground. Radioactive waste was disposed there from 1959 to 1977, when an explosion ended the practice. Waste is to be removed from the Shaft by 2029, according to the NDA report.
Who owns power stations in Scotland?
Iberdrola
Scottish Power, one of the big six energy suppliers and now owned by Iberdrola, once had half a dozen coal-fired power stations but is now dependent on gas and wind farms for generating electricity.
How much of Scotland’s electricity comes from nuclear?
Nuclear energy consistently accounts for 20-80% of the electric supply in Scotland depending on weather conditions for wind power generation and electricity demand. As of 2022, there is only one remaining operating nuclear power station in Scotland (Torness).
What countries use breeder reactors?
There are four countries in the world that currently have operating fast breeder nuclear reactors: China, Japan, India and Russia. That total is down from nine countries, including the U.S., that had operating breeder reactors, some since the 1950s, according to World Nuclear Association (WNA).
Do fast breeder reactors produce waste?
Fast reactors are capable of destroying the longest-lived nuclear waste, transforming it to waste that decays to harmlessness in centuries rather than hundreds of millennia. Fast reactors typically use liquid metal coolants rather than water.
What is happening at Dounreay?
Today, Dounreay is part of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Group and a site of construction, demolition and waste management, all of it designed to return the site to as near as practicable its original condition. Innovation in the face of adversity earned Scotland’s largest nuclear site a shot at CIPR Scotland’s #PRideAwards top event award.
Who is responsible for the clean-up of the Dounreay site?
Dounreay is responsible for the safe and secure clean-up of the Dounreay nuclear site. Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) is the site licence company responsible for the clean-up and demolition of Britain’s former centre of fast reactor research and development.
What is the Dounreay decommissioning project?
An error occurred while retrieving sharing information. Please try again later. Dounreay is Scotland’s largest decommissioning project and is widely recognised as Europe’s most complex nuclear closure programme.