Drum traffic rolls in Dorset
THE first rail movement of a major project to transfer stainless steel drums containing low level nuclear waste from Winfrith in Dorset took place on March 24. Direct Rail Services will move over 1000 drums, each weighing around a tonne, to the Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) Low Level Waste Repository at Drigg, south of Sellafield, in Cumbria. It is anticipated that 11 deliveries, each consisting of 10 cabriolet containers (each of which will carry 10 drums) will be made at a rate of one every 13 weeks. NWS says it has taken over five years of planning and preparation to begin the retrieval of the drums, which originated from the Steam Generating Heavy Water Reactor at Winfrith. The work is part of decommissioning at the site, which was formerly used for nuclear reactor technology research.