Encapsulated Product Store 3
Background
The Encapsulated Product Store 3 (EPS3) will be the new Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) store, providing additional capacity to support the two existing stores. The store will take ILW arising from both reprocessing operations and Clean-up work on site.
Challenges
The project has faced a number of challenges ranging from preparing a justification of the need for an import/export facility, development of a suitable contract strategy and determination of a suitable soil disposal route. The location of the project required detailed planning prior to work commencing.
Solution
As well as some innovative technical solutions to the challenges, considerable stakeholder management has been undertaken to enable the project to proceed. Extensive ecological sampling has also enabled the soil to be disposed of as free release waste.
Achievements
Over 1,000,000 man hours have been worked by Sellafield Ltd and contractors Amec and Laing O'Rourke (Site preparation and foundations and main build respectively), since site work began in June 2006, without a RIDDOR reportable event.
Over 7000 tonnes of reinforcing steel has been fixed and over 30,000m3 of concrete has been poured to date. A number of large single day pours (circa 1500m3) were completed for sections of the storage vault bases and roof. The concrete structure for the storage vaults is now complete. The two large concrete infilled liners for the crane maintenance area shield door have been installed in two major lifts and the 102 tonne shield door itself was successfully lifted into position in early February 2010 using a 600 tonne capacity crawler crane.
Concrete infill of the shield door using iron shot concrete will shortly be completed and this will allow the completion of the concrete roof above the shield door. The concrete stucture of the building will then be complete, allowing the steel portal frame roof structure to be finished.
Roof steelwork has progressed over the vault roof with only the section over the crane maintenance area yet to complete. The south west stair tower steelwork has been completed. Approximately 200 tonnes of steelwork has now been erected.
Roofing and cladding began in late January 2010.
The two 10 tonne vault cranes have been manufactured and are now being integrated and tested with the control system, the optical character recognition system (for crane location in the vault) and the on board camera system.
Mechanical, electrical and instrumentation installation is due to start in March 2010.
Encapsulated Product Store 3
Encapsulated Product Store 3
