Document Details

Sellafield LTds new Highly Radioactive Evaporator
Author:	Carpenter, Howard
Co-Author(s):

The Sellafield Highly Active Liquid Effluent Storage (HALES) plant stores, concentrates and conditions Highly Active Liquor (HAL) in evaporators for buffer storage in Highly Active Storage Tanks (HAST). Highly Active (HA) evaporators play a pivotal role in the delivery of reprocessing, historic clean-up and hazard reduction missions across the Sellafield site. In addition to the engineering projects implemented to extend the life expectation of the current evaporator fleet, the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Agency (NDA) is sponsoring the construction of a new HA evaporator (Evaporator D) on the Sellafield site. The design of the new HA evaporator is over 50 years in the making, with Evaporator D due to be the tenth HA Evaporator at the Sellafield Site. Each generation of HA Evaporators has built on the operational experience from the previous generations and has used technology advances to deliver more robust and practical systems at each generation. Many of the learning experiences incorporated for Evaporator D require relatively simple engineering design modifications such as a new internal washing provision and transfer line blockage recovery systems, they are nevertheless expected to significantly improve the flexibility and operational capability of the new evaporator. Construction on the scale of Evaporator D is a difficult task in itself, however the project has had to contend with building adjacent operational facilities and on a restricted foot print whilst bringing the project in to tight timescales. This has led to innovation such as the modularisation of the plant, enabling fabrication and testing of the majority of the plant equipment off-site within a workshop environment (as opposed to on-site) improving Quality Assurance and reducing On-Site testing needs. Modularisation means the movement of up to 500tonne sections of the plant from Elsmere Port near Liverpool to Sellafield. This would be impossible to achieve by road or rail and hence the modules will be delivered by sea. This has required the project to construct a temporary beach landing, which has been successfully tested, and bridge across a tidal area, as well as the removal of bridges and equipment from the Sellafield Site itself.

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Price:	£21.28 (£21.28 inc.)
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