Oil industry cleaning technique adapted for nuclear decontamination in the UK

The adoption of a cleaning method from the oil and gas industry has allowed the decontamination of pipe sections from the former Harwell nuclear research site in the UK. As a result, instead of having to be stored as low-level nuclear waste, the sections of pipe can be recycled. “By adapting a proven technology and applying it to the treatment of the pipework, the amount of waste that would otherwise need to be consigned to the low-level radioactive waste repository has been drastically reduced and only small volumes of secondary waste will need processing for onward treatment and disposal,” explained Low Level Waste Repository Ltd (LLWR) Waste Management Services Consultant and Magnox Relationship Manager Carly Sutton. LLWR manages and operates the UK’s permanent repository for low level nuclear waste, near Drigg in West Cumbria in England.