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UPDATED 1 Sept: The EI library in London is temporarily closed to the public, as a precautionary measure in light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The Knowledge Service will still be answering email queries via email , or via live chats during working hours (09:15-17:00 GMT). Our e-library is always open for members here: eLibrary , for full-text access to over 200 e-books and millions of articles. Thank you for your patience.
Sellafield Ltd’s demolition team is developing plans to safely dismantle the tallest structure at Europe’s oldest nuclear site
Sellafield Ltd’s demolition team is developing plans to safely dismantle the tallest structure at Europe’s oldest nuclear site – a 122 m high chimney. Built in the 1950s, the 61 m chimney sits on top of an 11-storey reprocessing plant and stands 122 m from the ground. Because of the location of the chimney, right at the heart of one of the busiest areas of the site, they will not be able to use explosives to bring it down.
Instead they plan to use a special self-climbing platform to remove the 600 tonnes of concrete and rebar, and over 25 tonnes of stainless steel that make up the huge structure. The technique, which will bring the chimney down bit-by-bit in a controlled manner, has recently been used in the demolition of the Battersea Power Station’s famous chimneys, which have been re-built to preserve the appearance of the building.
Project Manager Matthew Hodgson said: ‘A mini-replica of the tapered chimney will be built to test the methodology as the diameter of the chimney increases the lower you go down, so the platform will correspondingly have to increase in size. A specialist diamond wire cutting system will be used to remove large sections of the concrete structure and the internal metal flue, all of which will have to be lowered to the base of the stack for monitoring before disposal.’ The demolition will take several years to complete.
News Item details
Journal title: Energy World
Keywords: Nuclear decommissioning
Countries: UK -
Subjects: Decommissioning
