Metal giants stripped out and sold
Hoisting out giant pieces of redundant equipment is becoming second nature to the project teams working at PFR.
Hoisting out giant pieces of redundant equipment is becoming second nature to the project teams working at PFR.
As decommissioning Dounreay’s Prototype Fast Reactor gathers pace, plant housed in the former diesel generator building was next in line on the demolition programme.
The generators and ancillary plant have been sold for reuse by an external organisation for power generation using bio fuels.
The building has been home to two English Electric 16CSV 2000 KW 3.3 KV diesel powered emergency generators and associated plant and equipment for nearly fifty years.
The two forty tonne generator assemblies resemble huge blue steam locomotive engines and were lifted out using a 250 tonne crane and hoisting equipment.
The two generators were responsible for providing emergency power to PFR for twenty years when it was an operational reactor between 1974 and 1994.
The removal of the generators and ancillary equipment paves the way for the demolition of the second and last fast reactor to be built in the UK, which had the dual role of providing power to the national grid and provision of unique research and development design for the future operation of large commercial fast reactor stations.
The work was carried out by the site licence company DSRL and its contractors on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.