• Home
• Introduction
• Site Setting
• Geology and Hydrogeology
• Investigations to date
• Current Understanding
  of the Site
• Strategy and Planning
• Regulatory Requirements
• Management Activities
  • Safety case
  • Best Practicable Means (BPM) Assessment
  • Groundwater Monitoring
  • Leak Detection
  • Site Procedures to Excavate and to Dispose of Soil
  • Phase 2 of the Sellafield Contaminated Land Management Programme
  • Data Information Management
  • External Stakeholders
• Supporting Information

The Contaminated Land Project Leak Management and Detection Programme was issued in 2006 and updated in 2008. The programme is designed to minimise the impact of ongoing operations and structures on the subsurface environment and characterise and minimise further additions to the contaminated land store.

The programme includes the following actions:

• Prioritise plants with respect to potential risk of leaks to land in order to focus Contaminated Land Project attention and resources upon the most important plants.
• Establish interfaces, regular communications, information transfer, and agreement of responsibilities with the prioritized plants.
• Recognise the importance of leaking drains with respect to transmitting subsurface contamination; establish interfaces, regular communications, information transfer, and agreement of responsibilities with the Plant Services Utilities – Civil Group and with the Low Active Effluent Management Group.
• Use a continuing programme of audits and surveillances on plants and drain systems to assess compliance with relevant regulations pertaining to leaks to land, adequacy of leak to land management systems, and plant and drainage system vulnerabilities with respect to potential risks of leaks to land.
• Integrate the applicable portions of the Sellafield Contaminated Land and Groundwater Management Project (SCL&GMP) into the leak management and detection program.
• Transmit results of leak detection technology identification to plants and drain groups.
• Consult with plants on the placement and rehabilitation of boreholes in the Separation Area relative to optimising locations with respect to possible future leaks.
• Use the results from the trench investigation as a model for processes for handling future leaks from plants or drains.
• Establish the Contaminated Land Project in a key role as an integrator in the exchange and dissemination of information and knowledge relative to leaks to ground so that all involved parties are operating from a common knowledge basis.
• Perform routine modelling and visualisation of leaks to assess impact on the existing subsurface inventory.

The contaminated land team currently manage an annual audit programme to monitor the leak detection measure in high risk plants.  By the end of 2009 this programme had run for five years and will continue for the future.