News
Friday 20 March 2009Europe’s Largest Asbestos Removal Project
The first phase of one of the world’s largest asbestos removal project has been completed at Magnox North’s Chapelcross Site near Annan, in Dumfriesshire.
The £30m, 6 year project to remove 3,300 tonnes of asbestos from all the nuclear power station’s heat exchangers and turbine hall celebrated the milestone as the first of the 16 heat exchangers was certified ‘asbestos free’. All the asbestos removed from the first heat exchanger has been classified as exempt material and, as such, can be disposed of to a conventional hazardous waste disposal facility.
More than 7,000 bags of asbestos waste, weighing more than 100 tonnes, have already been safely removed from the heat exchanger since work began last year. However, before any of the physically demanding work could begin, extensive characterisation work was carried out to ensure the working area and the asbestos waste was free of radioactive contamination.
Site Director Dave Wilson, said: “This achievement is the first step in the long and difficult process of removing all the asbestos hazard from Chapelcross site and it is a testament to the hard work and commitment of staff at the site and the specialist contractor – Kitsons Environmental Services.”
The work to begin stripping asbestos from the second heat exchanger is set to start in April, with the whole project due for completion in 2013/14.
The process of stripping asbestos is a hazardous activity and as such preparation and extensive controls are vital to its success. Prior to any asbestos being stripped a fully designed containment structure is erected around each of the 16 heat exchangers. This involves structural modifications to the steel work and erection of more than 100 tonnes of scaffold. This structure is sheeted (1000 m2 per exchanger) to protect the asbestos lagging from the South West of Scotland’s weather. In turn each heat exchanger is prepared for strip to ensure no spread of asbestos from the contained area. The bulk strip of asbestos then takes place followed by a fine clean before analysis is carried out and the heat exchanger is confirmed as asbestos free. At this stage the sheeting can be removed Keith Riding, The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s Site Programme Manager for Chapelcros said: “The Asbestos stripping may not be as dramatic as the explosive demolition of the cooling towers - almost two years ago – but it is an equally important part of Chapelcross Site’s life time plan.”
He added: “Removal of the asbestos will eventually lead to the dismantling of the heat exchangers which will be a further dramatic change to the skyline"
