the areva-atkins partnership uk/media/files/a/atkins-corporate/group... · industry leaders, areva...

The AREVA-ATKINS Partnership UK

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Industry leaders, AREVA and Atkins, have formed a new partnership offering their exemplary capability and combined expertise to clients in the UK.

The AREVA-ATKINS Partnership UK brings a unique combination of international technology along with unbeatable design and engineering consultancy, and a deep understanding of the UK market and regulations.

The new Partnership will enable clients to engage with a single entity that focuses on supporting the back-end of the UK nuclear fuel cycle, including spent fuel management, waste management and decommissioning projects across the UK.


Leading the way

The combination of two worldwide leaders in the nuclear industry not only provides a full range of specialist expertise to the UK nuclear sector, but also supports the growth of a long-term, sustainable, nuclear industry.

AREVA is the world leader in the back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle with expertise in all back-end operations. The group’s back-end activities employ 11,000 people (2011) and include used-fuel recycling, decommissioning, waste management and transport solutions for each stage of the cycle. AREVA’s recycling technology, in use at the la Hague and MELOX plants (respectively in Normandy and in the Rhône valley, France), enables the reprocessing and re-use of 96% of used fuel. AREVA is part of Nuclear Management Partners in the United Kingdom which manages Sellafield.

Atkins is one of the world’s leading design and engineering consultancies with around 9,000 of its 17,500 people based in the UK. Its global nuclear consultancy has been involved in the UK nuclear clean-up programme since the late 1980s working at Sellafield, Magnox and former UKAEA sites.

Together the two parties unite 60 years of engineering consultancy, technology development and related services in the nuclear sector, and the strength of 65,000 people worldwide, a substantial portion of which are nuclear sector professionals.

Bradwell power station

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AREVA as part of the Nuclear Waste Management Ltd consortiumAREVA with its partners URS Washington Division, Studsvik and Serco Assurance, through the Nuclear Waste Management Ltd consortium, manages and operates the UK’s Low Level Waste Repository located West Cumbria.

AREVA is also a member of the Nuclear Management Partners (NMP), a joint venture comprising URS Washington Division, AMEC Plc and AREVA. The consortia manage and operate the Sellafield nuclear complex with the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

Sellafield Limited has recently awarded contracts to AREVA for:• A highly active effluent storage facility

project, together with AMEC and Balfour Beatty in the HALEF Partnership.

• The design, supply and installation of a new rod line for the SMP MOX fuel plant (Sellafield MOX Plant).

• AREVA has also transferred knowledge and operating methods, supplied equipment, and provided technical support to the Sellafield site to improve the performance of the Waste Vitrification Plant at Sellafield.

Case studies

Research and development, high-level waste conditioning: The cold crucible

Cold Crucible technology is used by AREVA to maintain its technological progress in the field of vitrification whilst meeting the needs of its customers. The entry into operation of the Cold Crucible represents the end result of 25 years of research and development undertaken by the CEA (Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Renouvelables) in collaboration with AREVA. This is the first time that this equipment has been used for vitrification of high-level waste.

The cold crucible principle:Unlike the melting pot, which heats glass by thermal conductivity from the walls of the pot to the core of the glass bath, the principle of the cold crucible is to induce electric currents directly within the glass to raise its temperature without heating the crucible.

The cold crucible operates according to the direct induction principle:• The wall of the cold crucible is cooled by

a water circulation system. • A protective layer of condensed glass

then forms, called a ‘self-crucible’.• This protects the metal crucible from

the effects of high temperatures and corrosion caused by the bath of molten glass.

In comparison with the current process, the cold crucible technology has major advantages. It makes it possible to:• Increase the frequency of vitrification,

thus making it possible to reach the potential of 1,500 tonnes with future fuels.

• Increase the lifetime of the equipment. The lifetime of the cold crucible is 10 times longer than that of the melting pots because its cold structure is not sensitive to corrosion, protected by the layer of solidified glass formed between the structure and the glass bath.

• Vitrify a wider range of products and ultimately to reduce the volume of final waste. The cold crucible is ‘multi-glass’, i.e. it allows for vitrification of various types of waste, due to its use at a higher temperature and its cold structure that is not sensitive to corrosion.


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Providing a full range of expertise


Savannah River: recycling of military-grade plutoniumIn 2000, the United States and Russia signed a bilateral agreement stipulating that each country would commit to eliminating 34 metric tons of surplus military plutonium produced during the Cold War by recycling it as fuel for civil nuclear applications. In 2008, the Department of Energy (DoE) made an agreement with a joint venture, created by the AREVA and SHAW groups, for the construction of a MOX fuel production plant.

The decision was made to build two plants on the Savannah River site, in Aiken, South Carolina, as part of the American plutonium recycling program, comprising: • A pit disassembly and conversion facility

(PDCF), where nuclear warheads are dismantled and where the recovered metal is converted into plutonium oxide.

• A fuel fabrication plant (MFFF – Mixed-oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility), where plutonium oxide is mixed with uranium oxide to make MOX assemblies.

AREVA expertise

The Shaw-AREVA MOX Services joint venture, LLC (formerly Duke COGEMA Stone & Webster, LLC) was selected by the DoE to design, construct, and operate the MFFF MOX production plant.

This new plant will: • Facilitate the fulfilment of the 2000

American-Russian agreement on military-grade plutonium disposal.

• Reduce the risk of plutonium proliferation.• Reduce the long-term storage costs for

the plutonium.• Transform surplus military-grade

plutonium into a commercial, civil asset (fuel).

MFFF relies on the expertise of the AREVA la Hague and MELOX plants. The construction of the plant began in 2007.

Case studies

MOX plant at the Savannah River siteSellafield site

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The Cold Crucible

“ The partnership will enable us to put our proven technology to use in meeting the challenges of the UK decommissioning market.— Dominique Mockly, Executive Senior Vice President, AREVA ”

Sellafield legacy ponds and silosIn 2001 Atkins, Jacobs and Carillion formed ACKtiv Nuclear, a joint venture which is focused on delivering whole lifecycle projects to the nuclear sector, and Sellafield in particular.

ACKtiv Nuclear has delivered over £100m of services to Sellafield across a portfolio of projects. At the heart of these projects is the decommissioning of the First Generation Magnox Storage Pond and the processing of the subsequent wastes.

The £300m Legacy Ponds and Silos Project at Sellafield includes the refurbishment, retrieval of waste and clean-up of the most challenging legacy facilities in the UK.

As the design and safety case lead within the ACKtiv Alliance, Atkins has delivered to date, the multi-disciplinary design and associated safety justification for five separate projects:

• Ponds Alliance – In alliance with Sellafield Ltd, the project engineered, procured and constructed the facilities for early enabling works to remove the fuel and associated waste from the pond.

• Export Facility – ACKtiv Nuclear was responsible for the conversion of the fuel inlet facility for the export of fuel.

• Sludge Processing Plant Project – Completion of an assessment and refurbishment of the repackaging and conditioning facility.

• Retrievals Project – Construction of facilities to retrieve the sludge from legacy facilities.

• Isolation and Risk Reduction Project – Assessment of an ageing facility and recommendations for upgrade. Construction work is ongoing.

Case studies

Sellafield site


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“ The partnership will allow us to further develop skills and capabilities to support a long term, sustainable UK nuclear industry.— Martin Grant, CEO Energy, Atkins”

ILW vault retrieval and processing Magnox – Bradwell

The Magnox Fuel Element Debris (FED) at Bradwell will be recovered and processed in a dissolution facility on site. This will involve the retrieval of waste from its existing storage location and segregation/sorting of the waste forms whilst providing adequate shielding to minimise public and personnel radiological dose uptake.

Atkins was approached by Magnox to develop the concept including the selection of dissolution technology together with producing the engineering design through to scheme design, including design proposal drawings, general arrangements, specifications and HAZOP 1 & 2 deliverables.

A solution was delivered to Magnox that not only significantly accelerates the programme but also reduces secondary waste volumes from their previous dissolution process by a factor of almost 200.

Following on from this, Atkins is currently working on the detailed design of the solution, which will greatly reduce the long-term costs for Magnox associated with safe waste storage.

The project is a fast-track schedule, with Atkins providing the engineering design manager and the mechanical design and safety case support to Costain. In addition, Atkins has provided the fire safety, human factors, AR&M, process chemistry, environmental, requirements, risk capture and civil structural support.

Case studies

Berkeley MiniStores ILW management projectAtkins has provided a multidiscipline team to Magnox to help enhance their on-site technical capability and review the design and implementation of MiniStores at Berkeley Site.

Initially the project included reviewing the original Life Time Plan (LTP) scope for Intermediate-Level Waste (ILW) management in the four main Berkeley facilities:

• Shielded Area (SA)• Caesium Removal Plant (CRP)• Active Waste Vaults Retrievals (AWVR)• ILW Store (ILWS)

Following this early involvement Atkins has continued to play a constant role in the development of the Berkeley Ministores ILW Project. Atkins has supported the client to guarantee the most appropriate engineering solutions have been developed and implemented.

This has involved Atkins engineers fulfilling the key client roles within Magnox, including the detailed technical review and acceptance of contractor’s design and being instrumental in the development of the engineering strategy. Further to this, an Atkins ‘reach-back’ team has continuously been involved in providing Magnox with both traditional design based consultancy services and technical expertise when required.

This support has covered a wide spectrum of skills and expertise including: civil, mechanical (both handling and M&E), environmental, process, electrical, control and instrumentation, town and country planning, radiological assessment and specialist fire advice.


Berkeley MiniStores

Unbeatable design and engineering 7

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Atkins is one of the world’s leading engineering and design consultancies. We have the breadth and depth of expertise to respond to the most technically challenging and time-critical infrastructure projects. This is why we were chosen as the official engineering services provider for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

We are a preeminent supplier of technical and project services to the UK nuclear sector, having been involved for more than 50 years in the decommissioning, new build and operations of the UK nuclear facilities. As trusted advisors to UK Government, Regulator and operators, Atkins is uniquely placed to offer innovative and highly regarded skills to the fuel management and decommissioning sector.

Our leading global nuclear consultancy has been involved in the UK nuclear clean-up programme since the late 1980s: working in the NDA market at Sellafield, Magnox and former UKAEA sites.

www.atkinsglobal.com

Company profile


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AREVA supplies solutions for power generation with less carbon. Its expertise and unwavering insistence on safety, security, transparency and ethics are setting the standard, and its responsible development is anchored in a process of continuous improvement.

Ranked first in the global nuclear power industry, AREVA’s unique integrated offering to utilities covers every stage of the fuel cycle, nuclear reactor design and construction, and related services. The group is also expanding its operations to renewable energies – wind, solar, bioenergies, hydrogen and storage – to be one of the leaders in this sector worldwide.With these two major offers, AREVA’s 48,000 employees are helping to supply ever safer, cleaner and more economical energy to the greatest number of people.

www.areva.com

Company profile


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ContactAtkins

Julianne Antrobus Chadwick House Birchwood Park Warrington WA3 6AE

Tel: +44 (0)1925 238912Email: [email protected]

AREVA UK Ltd

Phil Sansom21 St James’s Square London SW1Y 4JZ

Tel: +44 (0)20 700 47908Email: [email protected] www.areva.com

Bringing combined expertise to the UK decommissioning and fuel cycle market.

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www.areva.comwww.atkinsglobal.com

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