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Major Milestone in SIXEP
The Sellafield Ion Exchange Effluent Plant (SIXEP) has just achieved a major milestone in its history with the discharging of its hundredth ion exchange bed.
SIXEP is an effluent plant which removes radioactivity from liquid feeds from a number of plants across the Sellafield site.
The plant settles out and filters solids using a carbonation process to neutralise the alkaline pond water and then ion exchange to take out radionuclides. ‘Clinoptilolite’, a natural mineral which is acquired from the Mojave Desert, California is used to remove the primary sources of activity, caesium 137 and strontium 90.
After a period of several months, the capacity for the clinoptilolite to remove activity from the effluent reduces and eventually the ion exchange bed has to be replaced with a fresh Clinoptilolite. The milestone this week marks the hundredth bed change.
Commenting on reaching this milestone, Head of Manufacturing for Magnox East River, Mark Jackson, said: “The safe achievement of the hundredth bed change in this key site facility is a milestone for SIXEP and the Sellafield site as a whole. It demonstrates the commitment this company is making on a daily basis to nuclear safety and to the maintenance of a safe environment. I commend the SIXEP team for their efforts and expertise and look forward to further years of continued safe operation.”
In its 22 year life SIXEP has processed over 18.5 million cubic meters of water and removed over 80,000 TBq of radioactivity. It has been a key contributor to improved environmental performance as discharges today are a fraction of what they were prior to the commissioning of SIXEP in 1985.
