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Summer Issue 2016 | amecfw.com<br />
The magazine for our global nuclear customers<br />
ITER: FROM<br />
DREAM TO REALITY<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler steps up to new role at world’s most<br />
ambitious energy project<br />
Customers<br />
Performance<br />
People<br />
EDF’s Andy Goddard<br />
on life extensions for<br />
the UK’s AGR fleet<br />
Page 10<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler is<br />
uniquely placed for North<br />
Sea decommissioning<br />
Page 18<br />
Nuclear corrosion<br />
expert honoured with<br />
top award<br />
Page 22
Summer Issue 2016 | amecfw.com<br />
The magazine for our global nuclear customers<br />
Customers<br />
EDF’s Andy Goddard<br />
on life extensions for<br />
the UK’s AGR fleet<br />
Page 10<br />
Performance People<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler is Nuclear corrosion<br />
uniquely placed for North expert honoured with<br />
Sea decommissioning top award<br />
Page 18<br />
Page 22<br />
CONTENTS<br />
NEWS<br />
SIAL trial marks growing role at Fukushima 03<br />
Radiating confidence in world-class facility 04<br />
Subs advice for MOD 04<br />
New CEO for Amec Foster Wheeler 04<br />
Putting it all together to make fusion happen 05<br />
Stepping stone to new world of energy 05<br />
20 years of support to ITER 05<br />
First UK member of ETSON 06<br />
Praise for key report on radioactive waste 06<br />
Agreement signed with Chinese reactor builder 06<br />
Statistics have extreme value for Candu operators 07<br />
Research contracts to tackle decom challenge 08<br />
US nuclear plants seek bold ways to cut costs 08<br />
Port Granby clean up gets under way 09<br />
07<br />
INTERVIEWS<br />
A win-win for EDF Energy and its suppliers 10<br />
On track – nuclear’s answer to the Olympics 12<br />
Tom’s the man to bring industry’s image up to date 14<br />
FEATURES<br />
Nuclear first on Wylfa’s last day 15<br />
Innovation that stops money going to waste 16<br />
Decommissioning: Nuclear and the North Sea 18<br />
Making Chernobyl safe 20<br />
Romania: land of opportunity 21<br />
PEOPLE<br />
Masters success for Clean Energy’s part-time students 22<br />
Medal honours David’s work on nuclear corrosion 22<br />
Nuclear exam success for HVEC team 23<br />
MELCOR is this year’s model for fusion 23<br />
ITER: FROM<br />
DREAM TO REALITY<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler steps up to new role at world’s most<br />
ambitious energy project<br />
Cover photo: ITER’s Assembly Building,<br />
where the largest tokamak components will<br />
be pre-assembled before their installation,<br />
towers over construction work on the<br />
Diagnostic Building. See page 5.<br />
Credit © ITER Organization,<br />
http://www.iter.org/<br />
10 14<br />
Editorial contacts<br />
/amec_fw<br />
linkedin.com/company/amecfw<br />
youtube.com/user/amecfw<br />
facebook.com/amecfw<br />
Steve Brauner<br />
e: stephen.brauner@amecfw.com<br />
t: +44 (0)1565 684462<br />
Karen Winward<br />
e: karen.winward@amecfw.com<br />
t: +44 (0)1565 683046<br />
If you would like an electronic copy of this magazine<br />
please email karen.winward@amecfw.com<br />
FACT: Amec Foster Wheeler delivered £715m of efficiency<br />
savings at Sellafield as part of the Nuclear Management<br />
Partners parent body organisation.
THE BEACON MAGAZINE | NEWS<br />
03<br />
SIAL trial marks growing<br />
role at Fukushima<br />
used successfully in commercial power<br />
stations in Europe. Fuji believes it has<br />
great potential and wishes to spread this<br />
technology in Japan together with Amec<br />
Foster Wheeler.”<br />
Fukushima Daiichi NPP as it<br />
looked before the tsunami<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler’s innovative proprietary<br />
technology is being used in a research and<br />
development programme at Fukushima, Japan.<br />
T<br />
he work, carried out in partnership<br />
with Fuji Electric on behalf of the<br />
Japan Atomic Energy Agency,<br />
centres on the SIAL® matrix, a specialised<br />
geopolymer technique for encapsulating<br />
various radioactive waste streams and<br />
making them safer.<br />
The research will test whether SIAL® can<br />
be used to solidify sludge arising from<br />
the damage at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear<br />
power plant caused by the earthquake and<br />
resulting tsunami in March 2011.<br />
Andy White, Vice President for<br />
Decommissioning at Amec Foster<br />
Wheeler’s Clean Energy Europe business,<br />
said: “The SIAL® technique can be used<br />
on low, intermediate and higher-level<br />
radioactive wastes. As a geopolymer,<br />
it is superior to cement because it can<br />
“It is an important<br />
development that Amec<br />
Foster Wheeler has<br />
joined those supporting<br />
the restoration of<br />
Fukushima Daiichi”<br />
KAZUYUKI KATO<br />
incorporate significantly more waste into<br />
the matrix, thus saving disposal costs.<br />
The physical characteristics of the final<br />
product means it performs better in terms<br />
of compressive strength and leachability.”<br />
Hiroshi Ozaki, General Manager of the<br />
Nuclear Power Engineering Department of<br />
Fuji Electric, said: “SIAL® has already been<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler has also been<br />
carrying out a major study into managing<br />
radioactive waste at Fukushima on behalf<br />
of Japan’s nuclear decommissioning<br />
organisation. The work will assist the<br />
Nuclear Damage Compensation and<br />
Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation<br />
(NDF) to develop a long-term waste<br />
management strategy for the site.<br />
Kazuyuki Kato, Managing Director of NDF,<br />
said: “It is an important development<br />
that Amec Foster Wheeler, one of the<br />
UK’s leading organisations for waste<br />
management, has joined those who are<br />
supporting the restoration of Fukushima<br />
Daiichi.”<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler’s specialist project<br />
team has been asked to identify practical<br />
planning tools to support the future<br />
development of a waste management<br />
strategy for NDF at Fukushima, design<br />
case studies to demonstrate how the<br />
tools can be applied to deliver the best<br />
practicable environmental option for<br />
dealing with radioactive waste, and run<br />
workshops based on these case studies<br />
to provide NDF staff with hands-on,<br />
practical training.<br />
To find out more:<br />
mayur.jagatia@amecfw.com
04 THE BEACON MAGAZINE | NEWS<br />
Radiating confidence<br />
in world-class facility<br />
How will the electronic devices in satellites and<br />
telescopes perform when they are bombarded<br />
by radiation in outer space?<br />
W<br />
hen industry asks that<br />
question, part of the answer<br />
can be found at Amec Foster<br />
Wheeler’s cobalt-60 gamma irradiation<br />
facility at Harwell in the UK. This work has<br />
developed from the facility’s core business,<br />
which is to irradiate samples and<br />
components for the nuclear industry<br />
and provide world-class consultancy<br />
on the effects of radiation.<br />
Paul Murray, Operations Director, said:<br />
“Customers come to us because of our<br />
knowledge and experience, which has<br />
led to international accreditation in the<br />
field of irradiation effects in polymers for<br />
organisations such as the International<br />
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the<br />
International Atomic Energy Agency.<br />
“Our staff also play an important part in<br />
developing test standards for IEC and<br />
also in writing technical documentation,<br />
providing lecture courses and participating<br />
in coordinated research programmes.”<br />
Samples can be irradiated in many<br />
environments: in water, at high<br />
temperatures, under vacuum, under<br />
different gaseous environments,<br />
in corrosive liquids and in different<br />
combinations. This almost universal<br />
gamma radiation capability is not always<br />
available elsewhere.<br />
“We help our customers<br />
get more from their<br />
high-value assets by<br />
improving design,<br />
increasing output,<br />
extending asset life<br />
and demonstrating safe<br />
operation”<br />
PAUL MURRAY<br />
In addition, samples can be monitored<br />
during irradiation to continuously<br />
measure pressure, temperature, pH,<br />
corrosion potentials, other transducer<br />
outputs and electronic signals such as<br />
camera images.<br />
To find out more:<br />
paul.murray@amecfw.com<br />
Subs advice<br />
for MOD<br />
T<br />
he UK Ministry of Defence has<br />
appointed Amec Foster Wheeler<br />
to supply independent nuclear<br />
propulsion safety and technical advice<br />
for the Royal Navy’s submarine flotilla.<br />
The Nuclear Propulsion Independent<br />
Advice and Assessment contract, which<br />
was awarded after a competitive tender,<br />
is expected to be worth around £75m<br />
over five years. The work will be<br />
delivered by a specialist team from<br />
within Amec Foster Wheeler.<br />
Clive White, President of Amec Foster<br />
Wheeler’s Clean Energy Europe<br />
business, said: “This contract<br />
consolidates Amec Foster Wheeler’s<br />
position as the largest provider of<br />
independent safety assurance in the<br />
UK nuclear sector.<br />
“We will safeguard this vital and highly<br />
specialised resource and the suitably<br />
qualified and experienced people<br />
needed to sustain it.”<br />
New CEO for<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler<br />
D<br />
r Jonathan Lewis became Chief Executive Officer of Amec Foster Wheeler on<br />
1 June 2016. He joined from Halliburton Company Inc where he led the largest<br />
division, Completion and Production.<br />
Before starting work with Halliburton in 1996, Jon spent nine years in academia. He was<br />
NERC research fellow at the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London, and Conoco<br />
Lecturer in Petroleum Geology at Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh.
THE BEACON MAGAZINE | NEWS 05<br />
Putting it all together<br />
to make fusion happen<br />
Stepping stone<br />
to new world<br />
of energy<br />
ITER is the crucial step between<br />
today’s fusion research and the fusion<br />
power stations of the future. Its aim<br />
is to prove that nuclear fusion – the same<br />
general process that powers the sun –<br />
can be a viable source of almost limitless,<br />
carbon-free energy. Inside ITER’s reactor,<br />
intense magnetic fields will trap<br />
deuterium and tritium nuclei in a huge<br />
doughnut-shaped vacuum chamber.<br />
Construction work at ITER<br />
Credit © ITER Organization, http://www.iter.org/<br />
MOMENTUM, a joint venture led by Amec<br />
Foster Wheeler, is to play a key role in ITER,<br />
the world’s largest nuclear fusion research<br />
project.<br />
As pairs of deuterium and tritium nuclei<br />
fuse in a self-sustaining ultrahot plasma,<br />
they will release energetic neutrons and<br />
produce 10 times as much energy as was<br />
needed to heat them up.<br />
20 years of<br />
support to ITER<br />
T<br />
he British-French-Korean JV,<br />
whose other partners are<br />
Assystem Engineering and<br />
Operation Services and KEPCO<br />
Engineering and Construction Company,<br />
has been awarded the construction<br />
management-as-agent (CMA) contract.<br />
The long-term contract, covering<br />
management and coordination of<br />
assembly and installation works at ITER’s<br />
experimental reactor in the South of<br />
France, is expected to continue into the<br />
mid-2020s.<br />
Clive White, President of Amec Foster<br />
Wheeler’s Clean Energy Europe business,<br />
said: “MOMENTUM was formed<br />
specifically to meet the challenge<br />
represented by the scope of work at ITER.<br />
Its partners bring a proven track record of<br />
delivering complex construction projects<br />
in diverse industries.<br />
“For Amec Foster Wheeler, this important<br />
contract underlines our key role in<br />
developing future nuclear technologies<br />
while continuing to support the existing<br />
nuclear fission power industry.<br />
“The MOMENTUM partners will embed a<br />
can-do project culture that is focused on<br />
safety, quality and maintaining schedule<br />
and costs.”<br />
As CMA contractor, MOMENTUM will<br />
manage and coordinate the assembly of<br />
more than one million components for the<br />
ITER reactor. At its centre is the world’s<br />
largest tokamak, an experimental machine<br />
designed to harness the energy of fusion,<br />
the nuclear reaction that powers the sun.<br />
The scope includes contract management,<br />
configuration management, project<br />
management, construction preparation,<br />
site coordination, works supervision,<br />
and activities leading up to mechanical<br />
completion. The contract does not cover<br />
design or fabrication of components,<br />
construction of the buildings or building<br />
services.<br />
A<br />
mec Foster Wheeler has played an<br />
important part in the ITER project<br />
for over 20 years, including a<br />
crucial role in creating materials capable<br />
of withstanding the temperatures inside<br />
the vacuum vessel that houses the fusion<br />
reaction. Our experts have also introduced<br />
innovations into the test blanket modules,<br />
which produce tritium to fuel the reaction.<br />
Under a €70m contract announced last<br />
year, Amec Foster Wheeler is leading<br />
an alliance of companies to design,<br />
manufacture, factory test, deliver and<br />
commission the robotic systems for ITER’s<br />
neutral beam, which heats up the plasma<br />
for the fusion reaction.<br />
These complex machines, each the size of<br />
a bus, must be maintained, repaired and<br />
replaced completely remotely. Earlier this<br />
year, ITER announced that Amec Foster<br />
Wheeler had won a €4m contract to<br />
supply maintenance and remote handling<br />
services.
06 THE BEACON MAGAZINE | NEWS<br />
First UK<br />
member of<br />
ETSON<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler’s position<br />
as a leader in nuclear regulatory<br />
support has been confirmed by<br />
its successful application to become the<br />
first UK-based member of the European<br />
Technical Safety Organisation Network<br />
(ETSON).<br />
This honour recognises the company’s<br />
successful delivery of high quality,<br />
independent support to the UK<br />
regulatory community over many<br />
decades.<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler’s independent<br />
Regulatory Support Directorate team<br />
joins counterparts from 10 European<br />
countries in ETSON, which is dedicated<br />
to developing and promoting best<br />
practices in nuclear safety assessment.<br />
Benoit De Boeck, President of ETSON<br />
and General Manager of Belgium’s<br />
Bel V, said: “Amec Foster Wheeler’s<br />
independent regulatory team has a<br />
great pedigree in the nuclear industry<br />
and lives by the values of ETSON.<br />
We are pleased to welcome the<br />
company as the first UK member.”<br />
Praise for key<br />
report on<br />
radioactive waste<br />
A key customer has praised Clean Energy’s<br />
work to support plans for geological disposal<br />
of the UK’s radioactive waste.<br />
A<br />
mec Foster Wheeler staff at<br />
Harwell and Birchwood, with help<br />
from Quintessa and Lawrence<br />
Johnson Consulting, worked with<br />
Radioactive Waste Management Limited<br />
(RWM) to produce an updated Waste<br />
Package Evolution Status Report as part of<br />
RWM’s Disposal System Safety Case suite<br />
of documents.<br />
The report provides important data on how<br />
packages of waste are likely to change over<br />
time and helps to inform decisions about<br />
how they should be handled.<br />
Dr Cristiano Padovani, RWM’s Senior<br />
Research Manager responsible for the<br />
delivery of the work, thanked the team<br />
for ‘a very substantial effort’.<br />
He added: “I wanted to really express my<br />
gratitude for helping me get it done in time<br />
and to an excellent quality.”<br />
Mark Cowper, Head of Profession for<br />
Waste and Environmental, said: “This was<br />
an RWM company milestone delivered by<br />
our team to time and quality and we have<br />
received some good feedback.”<br />
RWM, a subsidiary of the Nuclear<br />
Decommissioning Authority, is tasked<br />
with delivering a geological disposal facility<br />
and to optimise the management of higher<br />
activity waste.<br />
Agreement signed with Chinese reactor builder<br />
A<br />
mec Foster Wheeler has signed a wide-ranging agreement<br />
with nuclear power plant constructor China Nuclear<br />
Engineering & Construction (Group) Corporation (CNEC).<br />
The two companies have confirmed a memorandum of<br />
understanding covering potential collaboration in the nuclear<br />
industry. It is the first time CNEC has agreed to collaborate<br />
with a global engineering consultancy on the deployment of<br />
high-temperature reactors in the UK and internationally.<br />
Under the agreement, signed in Beijing, Amec Foster Wheeler and<br />
CNEC have committed themselves to work together to develop<br />
opportunities in nuclear power development, construction,<br />
operation and decommissioning projects globally.<br />
The signing ceremony<br />
in Beijing
THE BEACON MAGAZINE | NEWS<br />
07<br />
Bruce Power in Ontario<br />
Statistics have extreme value<br />
for Candu operators<br />
Work by Amec Foster Wheeler Nuclear Canada has contributed to savings<br />
worth several hundred million Canadian dollars at Ontario Power Generation’s<br />
Darlington and Pickering power stations.<br />
T<br />
hat is how much the operators<br />
stood to lose between 2005 and<br />
2020 had the Candu reactors<br />
been derated and their generating capacity<br />
reduced because of safety considerations.<br />
Regulators may impose capacity limits to<br />
preserve safety margins on units where<br />
ageing of the primary heat transport<br />
systems has called into question the<br />
effectiveness of the Neutron Overpower<br />
Protection (NOP), a safety system, in<br />
protecting the core against a potential loss<br />
of regulation. Amec Foster Wheeler’s experts<br />
played a key role in the development<br />
and application of a new methodology<br />
for evaluating NOP trip setpoints –<br />
operating thresholds which trigger<br />
automatic shutdown of the reactor when<br />
they are exceeded following a reactor<br />
upset. In conventional NOP methodology,<br />
Monte Carlo simulations are used to<br />
establish a trip setpoint conservatively<br />
so that there is a very high certainty of<br />
providing protection.<br />
But Amec Foster Wheeler applied an<br />
extreme value statistics approach to<br />
estimate the random process and<br />
modelling errors in these computations<br />
and define the trip setpoints more<br />
accurately. This permits a higher value<br />
for the setpoint that will provide<br />
operating margin while ensuring that<br />
safety is maintained with high confidence.<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler’s work was also<br />
instrumental in convincing the Canadian<br />
Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) to<br />
accept the enhanced NOP methodology.<br />
The CNSC has allowed its use by OPG and<br />
Bruce Power on an interim basis for the<br />
past 10 years and has now finally<br />
accepted it. OPG said: “This is a major<br />
achievement that helps avoid unnecessary<br />
derating of Candu units due to reactor<br />
ageing.<br />
“OPG acknowledges that this acceptance<br />
would not have been possible without the<br />
great contributions and excellent<br />
continuous support provided by Amec<br />
Foster Wheeler staff on numerous<br />
occasions since the early 2000s.<br />
The company said its ‘deepest thanks’<br />
went in particular to three Nuclear Canada<br />
employees: Paul Sermer, Senior Technical<br />
Expert; Michael Levine, Technical Expert;<br />
and Ismail Cheng, Senior Technical Adviser,<br />
for their ‘excellent technical support and<br />
involvement’.<br />
To find out more:<br />
gord.fountain@amecfw.com
08 THE BEACON MAGAZINE | NEWS<br />
Research<br />
contracts to<br />
tackle decom<br />
challenge<br />
T<br />
he UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority<br />
(NDA) has awarded Amec Foster Wheeler<br />
two framework contracts to provide<br />
innovative solutions to some of its technical<br />
challenges. The awards under the NDA’s Direct<br />
Research Portfolio (DRP) are divided into two, the<br />
first (Lot B) covering integrated waste management<br />
and site remediation; and the second (Lot C)<br />
covering spent fuel and nuclear materials.<br />
The research and development frameworks are part<br />
of an overall package worth up to £12m and are<br />
being shared by 10 consortia, including two led<br />
by Amec Foster Wheeler.<br />
Andy White, Vice President for Decommissioning at<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler, said: “These awards deal with<br />
some of the industry’s biggest technical challenges<br />
and position us at the vanguard of innovation.<br />
The awards also enhance and further hone our<br />
expertise and put it at the service of the NDA.”<br />
US nuclear plants<br />
seek bold ways<br />
to optimise and<br />
cut costs<br />
Fracking has helped to create a glut of natural<br />
gas in the USA, pushing energy prices<br />
down. At the same time, growth in electricity<br />
demand remains sluggish.<br />
These two factors alone<br />
would create tough trading<br />
conditions for nuclear power<br />
plants. But the industry’s<br />
problems are compounded by<br />
its own rising costs.<br />
At just over US$36 per megawatt<br />
hour, nuclear generation is 28%<br />
more expensive compared with 12<br />
years ago. The US nuclear industry<br />
has realised that it has to respond<br />
by becoming more efficient while<br />
ensuring that safety remains its top<br />
priority.<br />
A new initiative called Delivering<br />
the Nuclear Promise was launched<br />
last December, coordinated by the<br />
Nuclear Energy Institute and the<br />
Institute of Nuclear Power<br />
Operations, and involving utilities<br />
and US industry suppliers.<br />
The target is to cut costs by 30%<br />
while also lobbying for regulatory<br />
changes and market reforms that<br />
will value the unrecognized benefits<br />
of nuclear, such as its contribution<br />
to fighting climate change.<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler Nuclear is<br />
active in many of the areas where<br />
the industry is seeking to become<br />
more efficient. The initiative<br />
scheduled to be completed by 2018.<br />
To find out more:<br />
abdy.khanpour@amecfw.com<br />
Yvonne Morris, the Nuclear Decommissioning<br />
Authority’s Research Manager, said: “Overall we<br />
were delighted with the high quality of the<br />
submissions and look forward to working with the<br />
organisations on our strategic R&D programme.<br />
We now have new multi-supplier contracts aligned<br />
with our key strategic themes. With many new<br />
organisations involved for the first time we will have<br />
broad input into addressing our R&D requirements.”
THE BEACON MAGAZINE | NEWS<br />
09<br />
Port Granby clean up<br />
gets under way<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler and joint venture partner CB&I have begun<br />
work as prime contractor on the Port Granby low level radioactive<br />
waste management facility in Southeast Clarington, Ontario, Canada.<br />
The project will enable the safe<br />
relocation of 450,000 cubic<br />
metres of historic low-level waste<br />
away from the receding Lake Ontario<br />
shoreline for safe, long-term storage. An<br />
engineered above-ground mound facility<br />
is being built approximately 700 metres<br />
north of the lake.<br />
In July 2015, Amec Foster Wheeler and<br />
CB&I were awarded a Cdn$86.8m contract<br />
to undertake the Port Granby Project on<br />
behalf of the PHAI. As prime contractor,<br />
the scope includes facility construction,<br />
waste excavation, construction of a<br />
roadway to permit transportation of<br />
the excavated material without using<br />
municipal roads, and restoration of the<br />
existing and new facility sites. Historic<br />
low-level radioactive waste is found in the<br />
area as a result of radium and uranium<br />
refining which was carried out between the<br />
1930s and the 1980s by state-owned and<br />
private companies.<br />
Scott Anderson, Senior Vice President,<br />
Construction Remediation for Amec<br />
Foster Wheeler and joint venture<br />
chairman, said: “Our team plays an<br />
important role addressing this<br />
long-standing environmental issue safely<br />
by delivering this project to our customer’s<br />
requirements, while also supporting the<br />
community with economic opportunities.”<br />
Craig Hebert, PHAI General Manager,<br />
added: “Our contractor brings extensive<br />
international expertise to environmental<br />
projects such as this, and the PHAI has<br />
assembled a strong team to oversee the<br />
work with safety and environmental<br />
protection as our top priorities.”<br />
Pictured at a shovel turning ceremony<br />
to mark the start of work are (l-r):<br />
Scott Anderson, Chairman Amec Foster<br />
Wheeler - CB&I Joint Venture; Richard<br />
Sexton, Acting Chief Transition Officer/<br />
Vice-President, Decommissioning & Waste<br />
Management Oversight; Mayor Adrian<br />
Foster, Municipality of Clarington; Kim<br />
Rudd MP, Parliamentary Secretary to<br />
the Minister of Natural Resources; Mark<br />
Lesinski, CNL President & CEO; Craig<br />
Hebert, PHAI GM; and Wendy Partner,<br />
Clarington Ward 4 Councillor.<br />
To find out more:<br />
scott.anderson@amecfw.com
10 THE BEACON MAGAZINE | INTERVIEW<br />
A win-win for<br />
EDF Energy and<br />
its suppliers<br />
EDF’s Andy Goddard describes the<br />
background to life extensions at<br />
Hartlepool, Heysham 1 and 2 and Torness<br />
In 2015, total output from the UK’s<br />
advanced gas-cooled reactors was the<br />
highest for 10 years and a remarkable<br />
50% up on 2008, when EDF acquired<br />
British Energy. Safety performance was<br />
the best ever with zero reportable nuclear<br />
events, while the number of unplanned<br />
outages was more than 50% down on the<br />
year before.<br />
The life extensions were a triumph<br />
for EDF and its partners in the supply<br />
chain, including Amec Foster Wheeler,<br />
which played a big part in providing the<br />
technical and safety reviews on which the<br />
life extension projections were based.<br />
Andy Goddard, EDF Energy’s Head of<br />
Design Authority, said: “With Amec Foster<br />
Wheeler in particular, we have a long<br />
history; the company and its predecessors<br />
have been involved in the AGR fleet since<br />
design, build and commissioning and have<br />
supported the stations during operation.<br />
As a result, Amec Foster Wheeler have a lot<br />
of site-specific technical and safety case<br />
knowledge.<br />
“The rigs and labs that Amec Foster<br />
Wheeler maintain on our behalf are a key<br />
aspect of our operations, both in terms of<br />
their use on specific projects and also in<br />
supporting our lifetime requirements, such<br />
as monitoring the boilers and cores of the<br />
reactors.”<br />
This deep knowledge and practical<br />
involvement means that we are involved<br />
in everything from periodic safety reviews,<br />
safety case updates and probabilistic<br />
safety assessments, to planning projects<br />
and developing novel engineering solutions<br />
at the stations. Recently, Amec Foster<br />
Wheeler has provided human factors<br />
support for the Sizewell B dry fuel store,<br />
as well as assistance with remote<br />
handling and robotics to assess the<br />
condition of boilers in the AGR fleet as<br />
part of the BLIMP project.<br />
Our support goes beyond helping to<br />
maintain the physical assets, however.<br />
“We need to ensure that we can maintain<br />
the technical skills and capability that are<br />
needed to underpin the AGR lifetimes.<br />
Some of those capabilities are with<br />
partners like Amec Foster Wheeler,”<br />
says Andy.<br />
He describes the Lifetime Agreement,<br />
signed between EDF Energy and Amec<br />
Foster Wheeler in late 2015, as an<br />
important framework to ensure that the<br />
ambitions of both companies are aligned.<br />
Through this agreement, the need to<br />
maintain a lifetime capability in some key<br />
skill areas is recognised.<br />
Andy also highlights that EDF Energy<br />
has been working with the Technical<br />
Work on the transformers<br />
during an outage at Heysham<br />
“The rigs and labs that<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler<br />
maintain on our behalf<br />
are a key aspect of our<br />
operations”<br />
ANDY GODDARD
THE BEACON MAGAZINE | INTERVIEW<br />
11<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler<br />
and its predecessors<br />
have been involved<br />
with the AGR fleet<br />
since design, build and<br />
commissioning<br />
reduction in wholesale electricity prices.<br />
We learned that it’s really important to be<br />
clear on the fundamentals.<br />
“These are to focus on 0-65-9 (zero harm,<br />
annual output target of 65TWh and 9 years<br />
average lifetime extension). Nuclear safety<br />
continues to be our overriding priority<br />
and we will continue to make significant<br />
investment in the nuclear fleet to ensure<br />
that safe reliable operation continues over<br />
the lifetime of the assets and that we meet<br />
our lifetime targets.<br />
Services Alliance (a group of suppliers<br />
which includes Amec Foster Wheeler) to<br />
ensure an appropriate response to the<br />
current challenges caused by falling<br />
wholesale electricity prices.<br />
“We continue to invest more than £600m<br />
a year in our nuclear assets. The energy<br />
market has been impacted significantly by<br />
falling oil and gas prices. In response to<br />
this, EDF Energy has launched a value and<br />
efficiency programme to ensure that we<br />
continue to invest in the nuclear assets in<br />
the most effective way.<br />
“We try to involve partners at the<br />
strategic level at an early stage to explain<br />
the issues we are facing and we invite ideas<br />
from partners about how we can do things<br />
better.<br />
“By having strong collaborative<br />
relationships with our supply chain<br />
partners we are able to work together to<br />
address these challenges. Often the key<br />
thing is for us and our suppliers to work<br />
together to ensure we have got the right<br />
solution before we embark on a project.<br />
The response also includes identifying<br />
more efficient ways of working or working<br />
together on more innovative solutions.”<br />
So how does EDF Energy continue to<br />
ensure a focus on safe reliable operation?<br />
“We clearly have to respond to the<br />
challenge presented by the energy market<br />
but our response has to be appropriate.”<br />
says Andy.<br />
“In the early 2000s, British Energy failed<br />
as a result of the way it responded to a<br />
“It’s also worth saying that although we<br />
have declared our best judgements about<br />
end of life; it’s in the interests of the UK<br />
energy market for us to operate safely<br />
for as long as we are able to. Continuing<br />
our extensive research and development<br />
programme is vital to further increase<br />
our understanding of the condition of the<br />
boilers and the consequences of cracks in<br />
the graphite core.”<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler is heavily engaged in<br />
the overall graphite programme designed<br />
to understand the cores’ tolerance to<br />
damage as they age. This includes stress<br />
analysis modelling, damage tolerance<br />
modelling – validating the results of these<br />
models using one-quarter to one-eighth<br />
scale graphite core rigs based at<br />
Birchwood – as well as physical graphite<br />
material testing in our laboratories.<br />
“Under the Lifetime Agreement we have<br />
agreed a longer term contract to secure<br />
those skills and capabilities,” says Andy.
12 THE BEACON MAGAZINE | INTERVIEW<br />
On track –<br />
nuclear’s answer<br />
to the Olympics<br />
Tom Samson, chief executive of NuGen, is<br />
leading the project to build three Westinghouse<br />
AP1000 reactors at Moorside near Sellafield.<br />
He explains the challenges facing the project<br />
and how Amec Foster Wheeler is helping to<br />
overcome them<br />
M<br />
oorside is Europe’s biggest<br />
nuclear new build project with<br />
generating capacity of up to<br />
3.8GW, about 7% of the UK’s electricity<br />
demand. Or, as Tom Samson puts it:<br />
“This project is an Olympic-scale<br />
opportunity and could be transformational<br />
for the region in terms of jobs and<br />
economic benefits and of huge significance<br />
to the future of the UK.<br />
“Construction of the new reactors will<br />
create thousands of skilled jobs over the<br />
next decade and we estimate that up to<br />
60% of our project could be accessible<br />
to the UK supply chain.”<br />
With such a pioneering project, there<br />
are plenty of obstacles to overcome.<br />
Tom explains: “I don’t think my job is<br />
supposed to be easy. I came to NuGen<br />
because I knew it was going to be a<br />
challenge, but I know that our organisation<br />
is up to that challenge and the progress<br />
we’ve made over the last 12 months has<br />
clearly demonstrated that.”<br />
Tom was previously Chief Operating<br />
Officer on Abu Dhabi’s nuclear programme,<br />
which effectively started from scratch<br />
in a country with no nuclear heritage.<br />
In contrast, Moorside is less than a mile<br />
from Calder Hall, where the commercial<br />
nuclear industry began some 60 years ago.<br />
“The people in West Cumbria have been<br />
incredibly supportive and welcoming,”<br />
he says. “I genuinely believe that this<br />
project has the best technology, with<br />
the best people in the best place.<br />
“We will make choices on key components<br />
based on the AP1000 fleet track record<br />
to ensure that we work with vendors who<br />
can deliver the most schedule-sensitive<br />
components. Similarly, all our choices<br />
should be driven by cost competitiveness<br />
if we are to provide affordable baseload<br />
power. For sure there is a skills challenge<br />
but there will only be a shortage if we fail to<br />
engage with the market.”<br />
Tom says NuGen, a joint venture between<br />
Toshiba and ENGIE, is on track to make<br />
its final investment decision by 2018. It is<br />
seeking debt financing, focusing on Export<br />
Credit Agency and Treasury supported<br />
Artist’s impressions of the proposed<br />
railway station near Moorside and,<br />
below, of the NuGen development
THE BEACON MAGAZINE | INTERVIEW<br />
13<br />
debt on a highly structured, limited<br />
recourse basis.<br />
“This is a first for this industry, but we<br />
remain confident that our delivery<br />
capability and technology credentials will<br />
enable us to make this happen.”<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler’s support has been<br />
‘extremely valuable’, says Tom, especially<br />
on the Environmental Impact Assessment<br />
and support with permitting.<br />
He adds: “The specialisms and expert<br />
knowledge that Amec Foster Wheeler has<br />
been able to bring have been pivotal in<br />
helping us collect the information which<br />
is essential in progressing through the<br />
development phase of the Moorside<br />
Project.<br />
“Amec Foster Wheeler has also been<br />
instrumental in strengthening<br />
Westinghouse in their responses to the<br />
ONR under the GDA process, bringing<br />
a deep knowledge of the UK<br />
regulatory landscape to improve the<br />
quality of safety case submissions and<br />
reach timely closure of the open issues<br />
necessary to secure Design Acceptance<br />
Confirmation and Statement of Design<br />
Acceptability for Moorside.<br />
“We have also held a number of<br />
discussions with Amec Foster Wheeler’s<br />
leadership on how we can strengthen our<br />
relationship – we are the start of a long<br />
journey and need strong partners by our<br />
side throughout that journey for us to be<br />
successful.”<br />
And Tom recalls that it was a member of<br />
the Amec Foster Wheeler environmental<br />
monitoring team who spotted and filmed<br />
the most famous visitor to Moorside –<br />
Myrtle the Turtle – a rare leatherback sea<br />
turtle spotted off St Bees Head during<br />
assessment work.<br />
“I genuinely believe that<br />
this project has the best<br />
technology, with the best<br />
people in the best place”<br />
TOM SAMSON
14 THE BEACON MAGAZINE | INTERVIEW<br />
Tom’s the man to bring<br />
industry’s image up to date<br />
What does an ex-MP know about nuclear power? A lot, in the case of<br />
Tom Greatrex, who was a shadow energy minister in the last parliament<br />
life extension of the UK’s existing reactor<br />
fleet or the latest twist in the long-running<br />
saga of Hinkley Point C.<br />
“It’s important that the membership of the<br />
NIA feel that they get value from the way<br />
the organisation communicates on their<br />
behalf,” he says.<br />
Tom Greatrex<br />
Tom Greatrex admits that when<br />
he became Chief Executive of the<br />
Nuclear Industry Association in<br />
February, there were surprises in store. “I<br />
wasn’t aware that the UK nuclear industry<br />
was involved in such a wide range of activity,”<br />
he says. This learning curve has left<br />
Tom even more convinced that the nuclear<br />
sector can play a big part in rebalancing<br />
the UK economy. But he warns that the<br />
industry needs to work on its public profile<br />
to make sure that it reflects current reality.<br />
“Perceptions are coloured by an outdated<br />
understanding of what nuclear power<br />
is about,” he says. “There is a lack of<br />
awareness about the breadth and depth<br />
of the knowledge base in the UK nuclear<br />
industry and we all need to think about<br />
how we can get the message across.”<br />
Tom cites the fact that expertise and<br />
capability developed in the UK is playing<br />
an important role in the clean-up of<br />
Fukushima, where Amec Foster<br />
Wheeler is helping Japan’s nuclear<br />
decommissioning body to draw up a<br />
waste management strategy.<br />
He adds: “This is an industry with great<br />
export potential and, if we do it right,<br />
we can create a highly specialised<br />
decommissioning supply chain that will<br />
create prosperity for generations to come.”<br />
Tom’s professional background differs<br />
markedly from that of Keith Parker, the<br />
former senior Department of Energy civil<br />
servant who has run the NIA since 2003.<br />
However, he is quick to pay tribute to<br />
his predecessor: “Keith has done a<br />
tremendous job, especially when you<br />
consider where nuclear policy was 13 years<br />
ago and where it is now. Keith has played a<br />
crucial role in driving that dialogue along.”<br />
With copious experience of the media,<br />
including writing columns for Utility Week,<br />
Tom has grasped the opportunity to<br />
complement the NIA’s behind-the-scenes<br />
lobbying by raising his head above the<br />
parapet to represent its 260 member<br />
companies more visibly in the policy<br />
debate. He is ready and willing to be<br />
interviewed on television and radio when<br />
big energy stories break, whether about<br />
“There is almost no aspect of policy that<br />
doesn’t impact on energy – from whether<br />
elderly people can afford to heat their<br />
homes to geopolitical issues in the Middle<br />
East. That’s why it’s so important that<br />
energy policy is right.”<br />
Drawing on his experience, Tom expects<br />
that Labour’s broad consensus in favour of<br />
nuclear as a key part of the energy mix will<br />
survive the current turmoil in the party.<br />
“When you look back to when the last<br />
Labour government began the process<br />
towards the new build programme, the<br />
Conservatives said they regarded<br />
nuclear as a last resort and the Liberal<br />
Democrats were opposed to the idea.<br />
But when they were in government, they<br />
both moved their positions.<br />
“That’s because anyone who looks at the<br />
facts will see that nuclear has to be<br />
included in any serious proposal for<br />
meeting our future energy needs. MPs in<br />
all the main parties are aware of that and<br />
it’s important that we retain that broad<br />
base of support.<br />
“This is a long-term business and it is<br />
almost certain that there will be changes<br />
in political leadership during the lifetime<br />
of these new stations.”
THE BEACON MAGAZINE | FEATURE<br />
15<br />
Nuclear first<br />
on Wylfa’s last day<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler experts have found a way to achieve huge savings<br />
as reactors approach planned closure<br />
and fuel transport, as the interfaces with<br />
them were crucial.”<br />
Wylfa 1 nuclear<br />
power plant<br />
When the Wylfa 1 reactor was<br />
shut down for the last time on<br />
the afternoon of December<br />
30, 2015, it brought an end to the 49-year<br />
history of the UK’s Magnox stations.<br />
But a nuclear first was achieved that day<br />
as well as the reactor had almost used up<br />
all of its available fuel.<br />
Duncan Hall, Nuclear Science and<br />
Structural Integrity Operations Manager<br />
at Amec Foster Wheeler’s Clean Energy<br />
business, said: “What Magnox did, with<br />
our support, at Wylfa has not been done<br />
anywhere else in the world as far as we’re<br />
aware. Usually, reactors tend to be shut<br />
down with lots of very productive fuel still<br />
inside. That would probably include some<br />
fuel that was placed inside the reactor<br />
only a few months before. This is a waste<br />
because fuel doesn’t get to its most<br />
reactive state until it’s been in use for<br />
about a year.”<br />
Needless to say, Wylfa’s precise timing<br />
did not happen by accident. Back in 2002,<br />
Magnox commenced initial studies into<br />
fuel cycle optimisation at the four<br />
remaining stations, which also included<br />
Sizewell, Dungeness and Oldbury.<br />
Magnox staff from engineering,<br />
reactor physics, operations, fuel route and<br />
commercial departments were involved in<br />
determining the strategic options, along<br />
with experts in fuel performance, fuel<br />
cycle design, reactor fault studies, safety<br />
case, and independent nuclear safety<br />
assessment. Because the capacity for fuel<br />
reprocessing would be a major constraint,<br />
representatives from Sellafield were also<br />
involved. The programme, which had not<br />
been attempted anywhere before, was divided<br />
up into four parallel work-streams of<br />
reactor physics, modellers, fault analysts<br />
and safety case authors, plus site<br />
implementation teams, all operating to<br />
tight timescales.<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler’s reactor and fuel<br />
performance, reactor physics and fuel<br />
cycle management teams worked closely<br />
with Magnox throughout. Duncan<br />
explained: “Most people think this is<br />
something just for physicists and fuel<br />
cycle people to deal with. In fact the key to<br />
success was to involve fuel reprocessing<br />
The lessons from Sizewell and Dungeness<br />
were applied by Magnox to Oldbury and<br />
Wylfa, where more fuel efficient fuel cycles<br />
and associated safety cases were<br />
implemented. And when the opportunity<br />
arose to generate electricity for longer<br />
at Oldbury and Wylfa, these greater<br />
efficiencies really came into their own.<br />
At Wylfa, thanks to the transfer of fuel<br />
from the already shut down reactor 2, the<br />
station continued generating for another<br />
five years without needing to order any<br />
new fuel.<br />
“Magnox were able to dispense with the<br />
equivalent of four years’ fuel purchases,”<br />
said Duncan. “And because the used fuel<br />
was more irradiated because it had been<br />
in the reactor for longer, it did not cost as<br />
much to reprocess.”<br />
As an indication of just how massive the<br />
savings could be, it’s worth noting that a<br />
Magnox reactor has space for more than<br />
48,000 fuel elements. Meanwhile, the<br />
additional generation at Oldbury and<br />
Wylfa reaped a windfall of more than £1bn<br />
for the British taxpayer via the Nuclear<br />
Decommissioning Authority, Magnox’s<br />
owners.<br />
News of the remarkable results achieved<br />
at Wylfa have spread around the industry<br />
in the UK and abroad, so Duncan and his<br />
team are now talking to other operators<br />
about how they can achieve the same<br />
efficiencies.<br />
To find out more:<br />
duncan.hall@amecfw.com
16 THE BEACON MAGAZINE | FEATURE<br />
Innovation that<br />
stops money<br />
going to waste<br />
Perceptions about the cost of<br />
decommissioning nuclear installations<br />
and disposing of radioactive waste are<br />
being challenged by research breakthroughs<br />
and new ways of working<br />
“Our engineered solutions<br />
are highly pragmatic<br />
whilst remaining safe,<br />
and are based on solutions<br />
that we know will work”<br />
ANDY WHITE<br />
An operator monitoring<br />
the SIAL® system at a nuclear<br />
power plant<br />
R<br />
elentless pressure on public<br />
spending means the nuclear<br />
industry needs to find simpler and<br />
cheaper ways of doing things, provided they<br />
are still safe and compliant with regulatory<br />
requirements.<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler’s approach is a<br />
combination of effective delivery, avoiding<br />
over-engineered solutions, and the More 4<br />
Less methodology of delivering more work<br />
for less cost without compromising on<br />
safety. The company is involved in<br />
decommissioning and radioactive waste<br />
management in Europe, the USA and Asia.<br />
It has been working at Sellafield for more<br />
than 40 years and at Chernobyl for more<br />
than 20.<br />
Drawing on the skills and knowledge of<br />
its global network, it has concluded that<br />
cost reductions of 50% are achievable on<br />
many UK projects, without any significant<br />
alteration in scope. The analysis has also<br />
found potential to cut project timescales<br />
by half thanks to more efficient testing and<br />
advanced waste processing technologies.<br />
“Nuclear decommissioning is not a new<br />
industry any more,” says Andy White, Vice<br />
President for Decommissioning at Amec<br />
Foster Wheeler’s Clean Energy business.<br />
“We are constantly questioning existing<br />
ways of working and finding ways to redefine<br />
global best practice with a view to reducing<br />
costs for the customer.<br />
“We are doing this by applying proven<br />
technologies and techniques, supported<br />
by teams who are experienced in providing<br />
services based on them and creating the<br />
outcomes that customers want.”<br />
For example, the inorganic SIAL® matrix<br />
has proved its worth as a method for<br />
immobilising and solidifying waste streams<br />
such as sludge, ion exchange resins and<br />
incinerator ash. Developed by Amec Foster<br />
Wheeler Slovakia in response to a nuclear<br />
power plant accident, the technique has<br />
been licensed and successfully applied in<br />
central Europe for many years. In simple<br />
terms, the wastes are sucked up by a robot,<br />
pumped into a drum and then dosed with<br />
inorganic solids – mainly compounds of<br />
silicon and aluminium.<br />
SIAL® can be used with low, intermediate<br />
and higher-level wastes. Its superior<br />
encapsulation properties quickly turn<br />
them into a solid with low leachability of
THE BEACON MAGAZINE | FEATURE<br />
17<br />
How SIAL works<br />
Managed radioactive waste treatment service<br />
Waste characterization<br />
characterisation<br />
Pre-treatment<br />
Treatment Treatment<br />
u<br />
Sampling Detailed physical, of the waste chemical, radiological<br />
and radiochemical characterisation<br />
Detailed physical, chemical,<br />
radiological and radiochemical<br />
characterization<br />
u Retrieval Retrieval of of the the waste waste<br />
u Filtration, dewatering<br />
u On-site On-site<br />
u Mobile Mobile treatment treatment units units<br />
u SIAL® SIAL matrix ® matrix technology<br />
u Final Final package package form form approved approved by by<br />
regulatory regulatory authority authority<br />
radionuclides and also makes the material<br />
much easier to handle, transport and store.<br />
Pavol Stuller, Director for Central and<br />
Eastern Europe, explains: “There are<br />
demanding requirements around long-term<br />
storage of nuclear waste such as spent<br />
ion exchange resins or non-standard<br />
waste. SIAL® is the only tried and tested<br />
geopolymer encapsulate on the market<br />
for use in nuclear power plants. It has a<br />
successful track record, having treated<br />
more than 1,000 tons of waste.”<br />
The use of SIAL® also saves money<br />
because fewer waste containers are<br />
required, with an additional knock-on<br />
saving in final storage costs.<br />
Andy White says: “Traditionally, UK<br />
decommissioning clients have opted for<br />
‘make’ solutions, engaging the supply<br />
chain in a piecemeal fashion, with<br />
different contracting vehicles used to<br />
deliver the various parts of the project:<br />
problem definition, solution development,<br />
FEED, implementation et cetera.<br />
This is inefficient and doesn’t make use<br />
of best practice from the wider industry,<br />
where solutions may already exist. It also<br />
leads to over-engineered solutions.<br />
The approach in eastern Europe is very<br />
different, and UK customers have been<br />
quick to see its attractions.”<br />
Asked to build a test rig for a six-month<br />
project at a waste treatment plant, Amec<br />
Foster Wheeler proposed a very basic<br />
design re-using an existing structure in its<br />
test facility at Birchwood, Warrington. This<br />
saved money because there was no need<br />
to manufacture access stairs. The client<br />
originally considered a design that was fully<br />
engineered to last more than 20 years.<br />
In another project, Amec Foster<br />
Wheeler has been contracted on a fixed<br />
price basis to provide a service for the<br />
recovery, treatment and export of waste,<br />
with an incentive to minimise the number<br />
of drums produced. It takes ownership<br />
of the full project lifecycle, including all<br />
supporting documentation, engineering,<br />
manufacturing and retrieval/treatment<br />
operations.<br />
Adds Andy White: “Our engineered<br />
solutions are highly pragmatic whilst<br />
remaining safe, and are based on solutions<br />
that we know will work, with only the<br />
minimum of modifications made to adapt<br />
to the facility in question.<br />
“The equipment is simple, mobile, easy to<br />
decontaminate, can be re-used, and can<br />
be deployed as close to the source of the<br />
waste as possible, hence minimising both<br />
the work and the risk associated with<br />
moving nuclear materials.<br />
Scabbling success<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler Slovakia’s<br />
problem-solving skills are also being<br />
applied to more unusual decommissioning<br />
challenges. At a former experimental<br />
nuclear reactor site in the UK, a postirradiation<br />
examination cell for nuclear<br />
fuel had been left with large areas of high<br />
contamination on the floor and walls.<br />
Five millimetres of concrete had to be<br />
skimmed off to remove contaminated<br />
material, but all work had to be done<br />
remotely because of the high dose risks<br />
to operators. Drawing on experience of<br />
developing new techniques in response<br />
to decommissioning challenges at<br />
nuclear power plants, Amec Foster Wheeler<br />
Slovakia designed a remotely operated<br />
scabbling head attached to a crab and<br />
arm system which can traverse in three<br />
dimensions. The machine was used<br />
successfully to remove the surface<br />
concrete to the required depth at the<br />
rate of 3 square metres per hour.<br />
The equipment was deployed by Amec<br />
Foster Wheeler’s UK-based Specialist<br />
Remediation Services team and the results<br />
far exceeded the customer’s expectations.<br />
To find out more:<br />
pavol.stuller@amecfw.com
18 THE BEACON MAGAZINE | FEATURE<br />
Nuclear and the<br />
North Sea<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler is uniquely placed for<br />
decommissioning work in the North Sea oil<br />
and gas industry thanks to its experience in<br />
the nuclear sector<br />
“There is an opportunity<br />
to develop a world<br />
leading decommissioning<br />
industry whose capabilities<br />
can be exported”<br />
BOB CHURCHILL<br />
Operationally, there are few obvious<br />
parallels between oil and gas and<br />
the nuclear industry. Until, that is,<br />
an installation needs to be decommissioned.<br />
At that point, both industries have to<br />
grapple with hazardous waste, complex<br />
engineering tasks, strict legislative and<br />
regulatory frameworks, and the ever-present<br />
danger of overrunning costs.<br />
In terms of generation capacity, nuclear<br />
power has contributed 20% to 25% of the<br />
UK’s electricity generation over the last four<br />
decades, with hydrocarbons (coal, gas and<br />
oil) contributing around 50%. When the<br />
cost of decommissioning and waste<br />
management is totted up, these<br />
positions are reversed. UK North Sea<br />
decommissioning is currently expected<br />
to cost just over half the estimated £70bn<br />
to £80bn for UK civil nuclear.<br />
So far, the pace of work on oil and gas<br />
decommissioning has lagged behind, largely<br />
because redundant platforms can be left<br />
standing idle for years, which is not an<br />
environmentally safe option for much of the<br />
UK’s nuclear infrastructure. In recent<br />
decades, several hundred commercial,<br />
prototype and research reactors have been<br />
retired throughout the world. Amec Foster<br />
Wheeler has been involved in this kind of<br />
work for 25 years. And the company has<br />
learned some valuable lessons which<br />
can help control the costs of North Sea<br />
decommissioning, which are expected<br />
to run to £17bn over the next 10 years alone.<br />
This represents only 17% of the 470<br />
installations that will need to be removed<br />
over the next 30-40 years at an approximate<br />
total cost of £47bn. This huge sum will be<br />
borne by both operators and the taxpayer.<br />
Bob Churchill, Strategic Business<br />
Development Director of Amec Foster<br />
Wheeler’s Clean Energy Europe business,<br />
says: “We have been working internally on a<br />
transfer of ideas and experiences from the<br />
nuclear industry to oil and gas for a couple<br />
of years.<br />
“Overall, 50% to 60% of nuclear<br />
decommissioning work is concerned with<br />
radioactive waste, so 40% to 50% of the<br />
work has a lot in common with oil and gas.<br />
It is pretty industrial and although the<br />
regulators are different, they both have<br />
uppermost in their minds a focus on safety,<br />
health and environmental considerations.”<br />
Bob has concluded that there are two big<br />
messages from the nuclear experience.<br />
“The first question is this: ‘How do we take<br />
a company or an organisation, which has<br />
spent decades taking rightful pride in safe<br />
and efficient operation, whether of an oil<br />
platform or a nuclear power plant, and then<br />
repurpose it to decommission that asset and<br />
take it apart?’<br />
“It’s really a case of giving them a new<br />
mission, and this learning is absolutely
THE BEACON MAGAZINE | FEATURE<br />
19<br />
“Nuclear is probably 10 years<br />
ahead in the context of what it<br />
takes to repurpose an organisation<br />
from operation and production to<br />
decommissioning”<br />
Offshore oil platform<br />
in the North Sea<br />
transferable. Nuclear is probably 10 years<br />
ahead in the context of what it takes to<br />
repurpose an organisation from operation<br />
and production to decommissioning and<br />
waste management.<br />
“It’s easy to dismiss these as soft skills and<br />
take the view that it should be easy to tell<br />
people to do something different. But it’s<br />
not so easy to move big organisations in a<br />
completely new direction –you have to win<br />
hearts and minds to get buy-in and bring<br />
about the necessary changes.”<br />
The second area, says Bob, is technology.<br />
Tools and systems developed in the<br />
nuclear industry are transferable to oil<br />
and gas, particularly the use of remotely<br />
operated vehicles for handling hazardous<br />
waste.<br />
Other transferable skills are the<br />
automation of dismantling large<br />
structures, decontamination, waste<br />
management and recycling of materials.<br />
Oil and gas can also learn from the UK<br />
nuclear industry’s use of lifetime plans<br />
(LTP) for each site, which outline the work<br />
required to operate, commission and clean<br />
up the sites, and are overseen by the<br />
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority<br />
(NDA).<br />
This had led to huge cost savings for the<br />
taxpayer and helped organisations to<br />
repurpose themselves and make the<br />
cultural changes needed. Meanwhile,<br />
Programme Management ensured a<br />
seamless transition from late life operation<br />
to decommissioning.<br />
Bob says: “We have been working in<br />
nuclear decommissioning for 25 years and<br />
we have seen how LTPs and programme<br />
management have changed the landscape.<br />
“When combined with our extensive oil and<br />
gas skills and knowledge, this means we<br />
are uniquely placed to bring this learning<br />
to the North Sea, where we are already<br />
shaping the new horizon and proactively<br />
finding solutions. Our knowledge is now<br />
increasingly sought after internationally<br />
because we have the widest experience to<br />
address the next steps boldly and at pace.<br />
“If North Sea decommissioning is done<br />
well, the prize is huge. There is an<br />
opportunity to develop a world-leading<br />
decommissioning industry whose<br />
capabilities can be exported to other<br />
global ageing basins, just as Amec Foster<br />
Wheeler’s nuclear decommissioning skills<br />
are now being applied at Chernobyl and<br />
Fukushima.”<br />
Unique set of skills<br />
In the oil and gas sector, Amec Foster<br />
Wheeler has implemented ‘More 4<br />
Less’, a new approach which focuses<br />
on efficiency, challenging assumptions<br />
and driving new ways of thinking.<br />
Craig Shanaghey, Director of Operations<br />
of the Europe Offshore business, says:<br />
“Applying this to the decommissioning<br />
market, we believe developing a much<br />
stronger link between late life asset<br />
management and decommissioning is<br />
the way forward. This means earlier<br />
planning to facilitate strong contract<br />
management that extracts value and<br />
a proactive approach that protects the<br />
value of assets, and assures the asset<br />
effectively transfers from production to<br />
decommissioning mode. Amec Foster<br />
Wheeler is well placed to offer a different<br />
mind-set and a unique set of skills<br />
with the combination of our oil & gas<br />
experience and our extensive nuclear<br />
decommissioning experience. We can<br />
maximise field life of our assets, and<br />
effectively prepare for decommissioning<br />
execution at minimum cost. That is how<br />
we can deliver more for less.”<br />
To find out more:<br />
bob.churchill@amecfw.com
20 THE BEACON MAGAZINE | FEATURE<br />
Making<br />
Chernobyl safe<br />
Thirty years after the accident, Amec Foster<br />
Wheeler is still working at the former nuclear<br />
power plant in Ukraine<br />
On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl<br />
nuclear power plant suffered an<br />
accident in one of its four reactors<br />
that sent a radioactive plume into the<br />
atmosphere. In the immediate aftermath,<br />
this caused dozens of deaths and<br />
contaminated tens of thousands of<br />
acres of land with radiation, leading to<br />
evacuation of some 35,000 people and<br />
the establishment of a 35km radius<br />
exclusion zone.<br />
The ISF2 facility<br />
A substantial quantity of fallout landed in<br />
Belarus but some traces of radioactive<br />
material reached as far as Finland and<br />
Great Britain. The first western European<br />
knowledge of the accident was from<br />
radiation monitors in Sweden.<br />
Since then, international organisations<br />
have been active at the Chernobyl site on<br />
a number of programmes of nuclear safety<br />
enhancement. Amec Foster Wheeler has<br />
been working there since the mid-1990s,<br />
starting with short-term safety upgrades<br />
to the three surviving reactors, ChNPP 1,<br />
2 and 3.<br />
We have also provided project<br />
management support for the<br />
decommissioning of the three undamaged<br />
units, and consultancy and project<br />
management services for the Liquid<br />
Radwaste Treatment Facility, which was<br />
completed in 2010, and the Interim Spent<br />
Fuel Storage Facility 2 (ISF2).<br />
These two projects have been funded by<br />
international (mainly European) donations<br />
through the Nuclear Safety Account, which<br />
is managed by the European Bank for<br />
Reconstruction and Development.<br />
The initial work was part of an EU-funded<br />
programme to address concerns about<br />
unsafe design characteristics in<br />
Soviet-designed RBMK reactors, similar to<br />
those at Chernobyl.<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler also carried out a<br />
similar programme at Smolensk NPP in<br />
Russia, which involved improvements to<br />
the safety margins and safety culture and<br />
strengthening the skills of operators and<br />
managers.<br />
“Very few UK-based<br />
companies have worked<br />
at Chernobyl at all,<br />
never mind for more<br />
than 20 years”<br />
JOHN DYNAN<br />
ISF2 is designed for the huge task of<br />
storing all the used fuel on the Chernobyl<br />
site for at least 100 years. It has the<br />
world’s largest ‘hot cell’ – a shielded<br />
containment chamber for work on<br />
radioactive material – which will be<br />
used to dismember 22,000 RBMK fuel<br />
assemblies before they are placed in<br />
casks for storage and monitoring.<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler’s team running the<br />
ISF2 Project Management Unit comprises<br />
expatriates, locally recruited employees<br />
and embedded members of staff from<br />
the customer. Project completion is<br />
expected in 2017. John Dynan, Operations<br />
Manager, Waste Management and<br />
Decommissioning, says: “Very few UKbased<br />
companies have worked at<br />
Chernobyl at all, never mind for more than<br />
20 years as Amec Foster Wheeler has.<br />
We have learned a great deal from playing<br />
a part in one of the most important nuclear<br />
decommissioning projects anywhere in<br />
the world.”<br />
<br />
To find out more:<br />
john.dynan@amecfw.com
THE BEACON MAGAZINE | FEATURE<br />
21<br />
Romania:<br />
land of opportunity<br />
Clean Energy is expanding at a busy time for the<br />
country’s nuclear sector<br />
Cernavoda NPP<br />
T<br />
he Romanian business began 2016<br />
with 15 members of staff but Sorin<br />
Patrascoiu, Managing Director of<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler Nuclear Romania,<br />
expects this to increase to 30 by the<br />
end of the year. Our main clients are<br />
Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica<br />
(SNN), the generating company, and<br />
Agentia Nucleara si pentru Deseuri<br />
Radioactive din Romania (ANDR), the<br />
national nuclear agency responsible for<br />
dealing with radioactive waste.<br />
Sorin says: “There is quite an interesting<br />
stream of projects coming up during<br />
2016. I think we are in a very good position<br />
because we are the only big international<br />
company with a permanent office and well<br />
established engineering team in Romania.<br />
Our competitors don’t have a presence<br />
here, they mainly rely on partnerships with<br />
local companies.”<br />
Sorin is hiring Romanian specialists for the<br />
new Candu Delivery Centre in Bucharest,<br />
another collaboration between Clean<br />
Energy and Nuclear Canada. The idea of<br />
the CDC is that Romanian Candu experts<br />
will support Cernavoda and also work<br />
remotely on Canadian projects.<br />
“We expect to have 10 people in the CDC<br />
by the end of this year,” said Sorin, who<br />
is sure that the team can meet Canadian<br />
standards but at lower cost.<br />
Clean Energy is also preparing its<br />
participation in an anticipated bid for the<br />
owner’s engineer role on ANDR’s planned<br />
repository at Saligny. This work would<br />
include site and construction licensing,<br />
managing the procurement processes<br />
for the EPC contractor and operator<br />
and supervising their work. And we<br />
are embarking on work to secure<br />
engineering, licensing and regulatory<br />
approval for a pilot plant to establish the<br />
technology that will be used at the Tritium<br />
Removal Facility at Cernavoda.<br />
Romania is planning an ambitious, €7.2bn<br />
new build programme – China General<br />
Nuclear Power Group has been selected<br />
as the key investor in Units 3 and 4 at<br />
Cernavoda. Some of the concrete<br />
structures have already been built for<br />
the new reactors, which will be updated<br />
versions of the Candu-6.<br />
This will create opportunities for<br />
environmental permitting work as well as<br />
nuclear licensing. To make sure that Amec<br />
Foster Wheeler is in the best position<br />
to capitalise, our Environment &<br />
Infrastructure business in Romania,<br />
which employs five people in Bucharest,<br />
will be absorbed by Clean Energy.<br />
SNN operates Cernavoda NPP, which<br />
generates about 20% of the country’s<br />
electricity using Candu-6 reactors – Unit<br />
1 was commissioned in 1996 and Unit 2<br />
in 2007. Two contracts were signed in the<br />
first quarter of this year: support for SNN<br />
to plan the refurbishment of Cernavoda<br />
Unit 1, a large project which is likely to<br />
cost between €1bn and €1.5bn; and for<br />
independent verification of the design of a<br />
nuclear safety system at the plant.<br />
Clean Energy is also supporting Amec<br />
Foster Wheeler Nuclear Canada to supply<br />
a model of the primary heat transfer<br />
circuit and to verify its pipes and supports.<br />
And we will also be bidding for more<br />
independent verification work and tasks<br />
related to normal operational and<br />
maintenance programmes at Cernavoda.<br />
Dr Bill Miller, Clean Energy’s Repository<br />
Director, is reviewing Romania’s national<br />
radioactive waste strategy in a joint project<br />
with a team of experts from CE Romania<br />
and ANDRA, the French radwaste agency.<br />
ANDR, Romania’s national nuclear agency,<br />
expects the work of this multinational<br />
team to bring the strategy into line with<br />
important changes in European<br />
regulations.<br />
Alice Dima, ANDR Director, said the review<br />
was “of utmost importance considering<br />
the important impact of the strategy on<br />
redefining national policy objectives, on<br />
defining the national inventory, on the longterm<br />
investment plan for radwaste and<br />
spent fuel disposal and related timelines,<br />
and on nuclear-related R&D activities.”<br />
Sorin Patrascoiu<br />
Sorin, who is on the board of industry trade<br />
body Romatom, says: “Combined nuclear<br />
and environmental competence will be a<br />
big asset when we bid for this work. It will<br />
also give us a chance to find new clients<br />
in other areas of the power sector such as<br />
coal-fired generation and waste-to-energy<br />
municipal projects.”
22 THE BEACON MAGAZINE | PEOPLE<br />
Masters success<br />
for Clean Energy’s<br />
part-time students<br />
Medal honours<br />
David’s work on<br />
nuclear corrosion<br />
David Tice, Chief Corrosion<br />
Scientist in Materials Science<br />
and Structural Integrity at Amec<br />
Foster Wheeler’s Clean Energy business,<br />
has been selected to receive the Coriou<br />
Medal by the European Federation of<br />
Corrosion.<br />
Among many world-leading insights<br />
and advances, he has:<br />
u Generated the most extensive data set<br />
on fatigue crack growth of stainless<br />
steel in high temperature water<br />
relevant to pressurised water reactors;<br />
Katy Greer and Cliff Harris, from<br />
Applied Chemistry and Materials,<br />
have graduated with an MSc in<br />
Corrosion Control and Engineering from<br />
Manchester University.<br />
Both were studying part time, sponsored<br />
and supported by Amec Foster Wheeler,<br />
and both were awarded a Distinction.<br />
Greg Willetts, Vice President for<br />
Consultancy, said: “I’d like to congratulate<br />
Katy and Cliff on getting very impressive<br />
results on their MSc course.<br />
“I know that managing to find time to study<br />
while working is always difficult, so that<br />
makes the achievement of a distinction all<br />
the more remarkable.”<br />
Cliff, a Senior Consultant based at<br />
Birchwood, said: “I’m extremely grateful<br />
to Amec Foster Wheeler for their<br />
sponsorship and support throughout<br />
this degree course. I feel that my career<br />
will undoubtedly benefit from having this<br />
qualification.”<br />
Katy, a Materials Consultant also based at<br />
Birchwood, added: “The MSc has been a<br />
great opportunity for me, not just in terms<br />
of gaining knowledge, but also in gaining a<br />
well-respected qualification.<br />
“The work was challenging and I am<br />
incredibly pleased to be graduating with a<br />
Distinction.”<br />
The award,<br />
which will be<br />
presented at<br />
the Eurocorr<br />
2016 conference<br />
in Montpellier,<br />
France in<br />
September,<br />
is made to a scientist or engineer who has<br />
helped to solve nuclear corrosion issues<br />
and has made progress in understanding<br />
them.<br />
The medal design is based on an image of<br />
a stress corrosion crack in the Alloy<br />
600 material used to make various<br />
components in pressurised water reactors.<br />
David was proposed for the award by<br />
Professor John Stairmand, Amec Foster<br />
Wheeler’s Technical Director and Chief<br />
Scientist for Materials and Structural<br />
Integrity; Professor Andrew Sherry, Chief<br />
Scientist of the National Nuclear<br />
Laboratory; Professor Stuart Lyon of<br />
Manchester University; and Dr. Alan<br />
Turnbull, Senior Fellow of the National<br />
Physical Laboratory.<br />
During more than 35 years in the nuclear<br />
industry, he has led research that has<br />
paved the way to major advances in<br />
understanding and predictive capability.<br />
He is an internationally recognised expert<br />
in environmentally-assisted cracking of<br />
nuclear materials, a process which<br />
presents one of the major threats to<br />
nuclear plant structural integrity.<br />
u Identified knowledge gaps associated<br />
with environmental fatigue endurance<br />
and set out a route map for addressing<br />
these issues, achieving a consensus<br />
amongst international experts;<br />
u Showed for the first time that<br />
sulphate-contamination of PWR<br />
environments causes initiation of<br />
environmental cracking and influences<br />
crack growth rates in low alloy<br />
pressure vessel steels.<br />
David is also a visiting Professor in the<br />
Materials Performance Centre at the<br />
University of Manchester, where he has an<br />
active role in research project support and<br />
student supervision.<br />
David<br />
Tice
THE BEACON MAGAZINE | PEOPLE<br />
23<br />
Nuclear exam success<br />
for HVEC team<br />
The vast pool of skills at Amec Foster Wheeler’s<br />
High-Value Engineering Centre (HVEC) in India is<br />
now at the disposal of the nuclear industry around<br />
the world.<br />
MELCOR is this<br />
year’s model for<br />
fusion<br />
MELCOR is a code used to model the<br />
behaviour of nuclear plants in severe<br />
accident conditions and interest in it<br />
has risen since Fukushima.<br />
Martin Turner and Paul Smith from<br />
Amec Foster Wheeler chaired specialist<br />
sessions at the two-day meeting in April.<br />
Our co-sponsor was Imperial College<br />
London, which provided the venue.<br />
Delegates from 18 countries heard<br />
presentations on recent updates to the<br />
programme and from users about how<br />
it is being applied for safety studies.<br />
Notable this year was the increased<br />
interest in using MELCOR to model<br />
fusion reactors. Andrew Grief and<br />
Simon Owen from Amec Foster Wheeler<br />
presented papers on this topic.<br />
Six engineers based in Chennai<br />
have passed the Award for Nuclear<br />
Industry Awareness (ANIA),<br />
a qualification designed by the UK’s<br />
National Skills Academy for Nuclear to<br />
provide a grounding in the sector’s specific<br />
requirements. Srinivas Dendukuri, Chief<br />
Engineer – Project Engineering, said:<br />
“For someone like me coming from the oil<br />
and gas sector, this course has definitely<br />
opened doors to the nuclear industry by<br />
providing an introductory engineering<br />
insight.”<br />
Meanwhile, his colleague Sankar<br />
Chockalingam, a senior electrical<br />
engineer with 13 years’ experience, is on<br />
secondment from Chennai to Birchwood,<br />
near Warrington, where he is working on<br />
his first nuclear project, designing a new<br />
intermediate-level waste store for the<br />
former fast reactor site in Dounreay,<br />
Scotland. The HVEC, which has 800 people<br />
in the main office in Chennai and another<br />
240 in Kolkata, has been operating since<br />
1998. Andrew Forrest, Engineering<br />
Director of Amec Foster Wheeler’s Clean<br />
Energy business, said: “Within most<br />
projects there are areas of work where<br />
a qualified engineer’s core skills can be<br />
utilised, irrespective of their industry<br />
background. Good examples are electrical<br />
design, piping design, CAD work,<br />
document control – the list goes on.<br />
“Effectively combining the HVEC’s<br />
capability with our local knowledge of<br />
the customer, site and regulatory<br />
requirements gives us a powerful<br />
competitive edge.”<br />
The HVEC’s capability covers all main<br />
engineering design disciplines<br />
(process, mechanical, CE&I and CS&A)<br />
plus procurement, construction<br />
management and project administration.<br />
Its teams use industry-leading systems<br />
throughout all disciplines including Aveva<br />
(PDMS) and Autodesk tools for 3D CAD<br />
and database-driven engineering.<br />
And with about 40% of the HVEC’s<br />
engineers boasting 15 or more years’<br />
experience, many of them certified by UK<br />
institutes, there is no shortage of expertise.<br />
Left: Sankar<br />
Chockalingam and<br />
above, the HVEC’s<br />
successful nuclear<br />
exam candidates<br />
(left to right)<br />
Rajkumar<br />
Subramanian,<br />
Srinivas<br />
Dendukuri,<br />
Logithasan Shunmugavel, Kumaravel<br />
Margabandu, Nagarajan Krishnamurthy<br />
and Gengadharan Krishnan.
Connected Excellence for<br />
our global nuclear customers<br />
A trusted partner in nuclear, we operate on 5 continents, in more than 15 countries<br />
and have 60 years unrivalled experience.<br />
Global Nuclear experience<br />
Global Nuclear Pedigree<br />
We are technology independent and have<br />
comprehensive experience of all major reactor types.<br />
PWR, BWR, CANDU, VVER, AGR, RBMK, Magnox,<br />
GenIV technologies, SMR, Fusion<br />
We have over<br />
3,000<br />
nuclear professionals<br />
around the world<br />
To find out more, contact:<br />
Tom Jones<br />
Vice President for Strategic<br />
Business Development<br />
t: +44 (0) 1565 683024<br />
m: +44 (0) 7827 350274<br />
e: tom.jones@amecfw.com<br />
© Amec Foster Wheeler 2016