Sellafield Magazine Issue 8
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Issue 08 January 2018 Safety, delivery and value 2017 review Transforming Sellafield Employees take on new roles Safe Maximising our social storage impact Find out more The new frontier for on page 52 nuclear manufacturing? Calder Hall Beyond Sellafield Evaporator D From cooling towers to Forth Engineering sets its sights From drawing board to construction site on new markets national asset As you may already know, Sellafield Ltd offers some of the If you know hard-working, ambitious people who could truly very best apprenticeships available. We now need your help make their mark here, send them to careers.sellafield.co.uk telling people about them. where they’ll learn about all the benefits and rewards. We think it will be the smartest move they’ll ever make. We’ve got a huge range of schemes, offering apprentices the chance to build a great career, learn from recognised experts, work for the world-leader and protect the environment for generations to come. Learn from world Years of non-stop £ Team up with hundreds experts experience Get paid to learn of apprentices Editor's Letter Editor’s Letter Behind the scenes: buildingpage 10 waste storage boxes hat comes to mind when you think of Sellafield? The site is so iconic that it is often our historic roles that come to mind first. Is it a nuclear power station? No, we haven’t generated electricity since Calder Hall closed in 2003. Indeed, the footprint Our employees raised more than £75,000 Wwhere the station’s cooling towers once stood is now a construction site for new for local charities in the run up to Christmas page 18 nuclear facilities (see page 26). Is it a waste dump? No, but we do have an unrivalled nuclear waste capability, and our demand for safe storage is creating jobs for the next generation of nuclear workers across the country (see page 10). Is it a reprocessing site? Actually, yes, but only for a few more years. In 2018 the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant will shear its last fuel, with the Magnox Reprocessing Plant following suit in 2020. Follow our countdown to the end of reprocessing on page 34. With the end of reprocessing our focus will shift entirely to the environmental Thousands of young people have started remediation of the nuclear site. Keeping Sellafield safe and making it safer. their careers as an apprentice at Sellafield We are transforming our business, reskilling and redeploying our employees page 79 from reprocessing into new roles (page 63), creating an environment where supply chain companies can develop technology for us that can then be exported to other markets (see page 40), and working differently with the supply chain (see page 38 and page 54). We are also transforming our approach to social impact, working with stakeholders to create the best possible future for our communities. The new man in charge, Gary McKeating, gives us an exclusive look at our new social impact strategy on page 52. Social impact: new lead, new approach, Not everything is changing. We have recently launched our 2018 new strategy page 52 apprenticeship programmes, with this year’s intake set to follow in the footsteps of more than 10,000 apprentices who have started their career with us over the KeepKtdtith up to date with our progress at tSl Sellafield:l fi ld past 65 years (see our photo feature on page 79). Our focus on cleaning up the Sellafield site also endures. It is why we are www.gov.uk/sellafieldltd here. We made great strides in this nationally important mission in 2017 (see @SellafieldLtd page 19) and are excited about the challenges ahead in 2018. If you have any feedback on Sellafield Magazine, do get in touch at [email protected]. On the cover Providing safe containment for nuclear waste for centuries is going to involve the manufacture of containers on a scale never before seen in the UK. Read all about our 3m3 boxes on page 10. 3 Contents Contents 43 6 What is Transformation? Our mission at Sellafield is changing 8 LATEST NEWS Since September we have… 10 Cubey Do 25 Providing safe containment for nuclear waste 25 Nine gold safety awards for Sellafield Ltd Safety performance recognised 43 From the archives Avexis, 1965 26 PHOTO FEATURE 44 In Focus: Calder Hall Evaporator D From cooling towers to The fourth addition to our fleet construction site of evaporators 32 A relatively good year for physics! 50 INTERVIEW Gary McKeating We have some jolly good fellows Head of community relations 33 From the archives 52 Social Impact Strategy 16 Boxing Clever Sellafield Laboratory, 1962 Sharing knowledge saves millions An overview of our new approach of pounds 34 Thorp to social impact It’s the final countdown 18 ’Twas the Season 54 LINC with Sellafield Our own Santa’s little helpers raise 38 Supporting Sellafield’s Opening the door for smaller thousands for local charities supply chain businesses Our employees hard at work in the 56 INTERVIEW Gary McKee 19 Looking back at 2017 supply chain A year of progress Running man: 100 marathons in 40 Whatever floats our boat 100 days The story behind Avexis 58 It’s good to talk Raising awareness of mental health MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS Looking Starting a conversation back at about mental health 2017 19 9 58 4 Contents RESKILLING AND REDEPLOYING A look back at more than Making sure you have people with the right skills 63 in the right place 65 years of apprentice training at Sellafield 7979 60 On the buses 78 Women in nuclear Reays Coaches go from strength Our award winning women to strength 79 PHOTO FEATURE 62 Stacks of progress Apprentice special Tackling our tallest hazard Celebrating more than 65 years of apprentice training 62 Tonnes to go Reprocessing is near to completion 91 10 facts Investing in our workforce 63 The right skills in the right places Our employees take up their next 92 Director’s Forum challenge at Sellafield Supply chain questions answeredd 66 Our unsung heroes 96 PHOTOGRAPHER in residencence Celebrating the work of our teams Less is more 68 INTERVIEW Duncan Thompson 98 Five minutes with... Non-executive director Julia McClelland 71 To infinity and beyond Behind the scenes at the 2017 Infinity Festival 71 56 Marathon man, OUR UNSUNG HEROES Gary McKee, gives How important are his advice for facing the Water Treatment 66 Plant and Inactive Tank Farm facilities? challenges in life What is… WHAT IS… Transformation ur mission is changing, and so Transformation is first and foremost from the taxpayer, so demonstrating changing the way we work is about making sure we have the right greater progress and value for money Ounavoidable. Transformation is working arrangements and practices for is essential. As the government makes about making the very best of that change. this new focus. choices about how to prioritise its support Sellafield is the UK’s most complex By working more effectively, efficiently for all the services that rely on its funding nuclear site. A pioneer for the UK’s and flexibly, we will accelerate our – from hospitals and schools to national nuclear industry, it has supported programmes of work – removing hazards security and the nuclear industry – we national defence, generated electricity and reducing risks more quickly. want to make sure that investing money in for nearly half a century, developed Key to this will be how we work with Sellafield is an easy choice for them. the country’s ability to manage nuclear the supply chain. Through collaboration The environmental restoration of waste safely, and brought billions of we will find innovative solutions to deliver Sellafield will take decades, but that pounds of revenue into the UK through our clean-up mission more quickly and mission will eventually end. As a major its reprocessing capability. improve value for money for taxpayers. employer we want to work with our This year we will complete our These innovations could then be sold communities to help create a vibrant reprocessing mission in Thorp. The by the supply chain to other and diverse local economy that mission in the Magnox Reprocessing customers and industries, doesn’t rely solely on the Plant will be completed in 2020. These helping the supply site. The changes we facilities have supported the nuclear chain grow stronger By working more make as we transform industry nationally and internationally and attract inward effectively, efficiently our organisation can while generating income that has helped investment from and flexibly, we help to create future to offset the cost of cleaning up our site. the global nuclear will accelerate our choices that were All of the reprocessing contracts will have decommissioning programmes of work – never afforded to been completed and their job will have market into our the coal-fields, the been done, and the clean-up of Sellafield communities. removing hazards and shipyards or the will be our sole mission. Our funding comes reducing risks more steelworks. quickly. WHY ARE WE WHAT IS CHANGING? WHY IS TRANSFORMING TRANSFORMING The biggest changes we will see in our SELLAFIELD SO IMPORTANT? SELLAFIELD? everyday work are: • We need to think and act differently Reprocessing is ending and our 1. Organising everything we do to deliver our changing mission. mission is changing. We need around value streams; Retrievals, • New relationships and solutions to do different things, and do Remediation, Spent Fuel Manage- will help us make Sellafield safer, things differently, to operate as an ment, Special Nuclear Materials. sooner. environmental clean-up company. 2. Developing the leadership • Helping the supply chain to and culture that are all about strengthen and diversify makes performance.