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Massive crane lifts Sellafield to clean-up milestone
British Nuclear Group has used one of Europe’s largest mobile cranes to help its engineers reach a key decommissioning milestone in one of the historic legacy silos at Sellafield.
The 142-ton crane was brought in to remove part of the roof on one of the site’s oldest and most hazardous disused silos.
The complex work, much of which was carried out at heights of up to 70 feet, involved the intricate replacement of an existing crane in the solid waste storage facility. The work formed a critical step in allowing British Nuclear Group to prepare for, and start retrieving the historic waste.
Once assembled the mobile crane, with a lifting capacity of 800 tons, removed a section of the facility roof, through which the plant’s existing redundant crane, was then removed and replaced in 15 lifting manoeuvres.
As part of the preparation and to ensure its safety within stringent regulations, the project team overcame some of the most testing conventional and radiological safety challenges ever experienced on site, to allow the operation to take place.
George Andrews, Superintendent, Legacy and Silos at British Nuclear Group, said: “This has been a very important project for the progression of clean-up on the Sellafield Site.
“The removal of redundant equipment from any building on the site creates unique safety challenges and once again, British Nuclear Group has demonstrated it possesses the experience and skills safely to overcome the enormous challenges of clean-up operations at Sellafield and all other sites across the UK.
