3 June 2011

The completion of the UK’s largest current nuclear project, Evaporator D (where Costain is working with Sellafield Ltd), has moved a stage nearer with the successful completion of the first of the module delivery stages required for this impressive project.

The first two of the planned eleven modules required for the facility were successfully transported via Self Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMT) 1.5 kilometres from the Interserve Pioneer Point facility, Cheshire to the specialist barge the Terra Marique, moored at Manchester ship canal.

The modules, which consist of structural steel, stainless steel pipework, vessels and other equipment, weighing in at over 100 Te, measure 10m high, 7.5m wide and almost 10m in length, made an imposing sight as they were loaded onto the barge prior to sailing the 90 miles north to a beach adjacent to the Sellafield site on the West Cumbrian Coast. Utilising sea transport for the first time in the history of the Sellafield site, the modules were conveyed to the Sellafield beach, off loaded from the barge and driven across a purpose built bridge across the River Ehen, which runs parallel to the site.

The final stage of the module delivery project involved the Self Propelled Modular Transporters moving the modules onto the Sellafield site to be placed in a purpose built storage area awaiting installation in the Evaporator D building later this year.

Work on the Evaporator D project is due to be completed in 2014. It will provide additional capacity to support the site’s existing evaporators, which continue to play a pivotal role in the delivery of nuclear fuel reprocessing contracts and in maximising the reduction of risk to the public and the environment from site operations.

 

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