Blow me down - deplanting progress at Dungeness
A dedicated ten-man team at Dungeness has made huge progress in deplanting the blower oil system pipework.
The site has set itself the target of deplanting seven blower oil systems,following the successful deplant of the blower eight oil system last year. Dungeness is right on track to complete this before the end of March.
The team includes people from across shift, maintenance and project deparments who between them boast mechanical, electrical, health physics, safety, crane-driving, fire team and first aid skills. Experience ranges from two to more than 20 years on site.
Tony Wells, assistant site manager said: "The guys have really upped the ante on this project in the past few weeks and the pipework is now almost history. Weíre pushing ahead and currently focusing on the processing of waste."
There were four blowers for each reactor which circulated the carbon dioxide coolant gas when the site was generating. Each blower system incorporates various motors, pumps, electrical cabling and oil pipework.
The accepted view was that these oil systems were likely to be contaminated but Dungeness found the waste could be disposed of via conventional routes, creating a huge cost saving.
So far about seven skips of waste, weighing between five and 12 tonnes, have left site bound for recycling.
