NDA signs knowledge-sharing agreement
The NDA has signed an agreement with the United States Department of Energy and the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited to share knowledge and expertise about decommissioning waste management.
Dr. Adrian Simper (NDA) William ‘Ike’ White (Department of Energy) Alastair MacDonald (AECL)
The agreement, signed during a ceremony held at the Waste Management Symposia 2020 in Arizona, strengthens the longstanding relationships between the three organisations and encourages further collaboration.
The agreement, which covers areas such as infrastructure management, in-situ decommissioning and options for radioactive waste disposal, aims to share best practice and help deliver nuclear decommissioning safer and more efficiently.
Dr Adrian Simper, the NDA Group Director for Strategy and Technology, said:
We have been collaborating on a bilateral basis for some years now with our North American friends. This has allowed us to benefit from sharing each other’s experiences of our most difficult clean-up tasks.
Coming together under this agreement is a natural progression and provides a unique opportunity to accelerate our individual missions and better manage our environmental responsibilities.
William ‘Ike’ White, Senior Advisor for the Office of Environmental Management, said:
Collaborating with our counterparts and sharing best practices wherever possible will help to ensure that we all learn from one another.
The ability to conduct joint technology projects, exchange personnel and conduct inter-country programme reviews will increase the capabilities of our people, and allow all of us to leverage our collective resources as we tackle some of the most difficult environmental challenges.
Richard Sexton, President and Chief Executive Officer for AECL, added:
We are all working hard, but face challenges cleaning up our sites and effectively managing our waste, to better protect the environment and the health and safety of our communities, all the while ensuring good value.
Today’s announcement clearly signals that through sharing knowledge and best practices, we can build on experience gained by our counterparts and tap into the right expertise, to find unique and safe solutions to common issues, thereby leaving a better legacy for future generations.