April 2017 dounreay.com

The magazine for the Dounreay team

Dounreay

Lights, camera,safety

See page 3

I understand that change can be unsettling.

Reductions can attract headlines, but we

have long talked about it being an inevitable

consequence of making progress against our

mission. Decommissioning means change,

but it can also mean opportunity.

While our resource profile will inevitably

reduce further in the years ahead, the staff

reductions announced are voluntary. For

those who remain, we can look forward to a

big programme of work and we need to

ensure that we have the right balance of skills

to deliver it.

Please speak up if you need support. From

your line manager to our dedicated employee

support representative – there are a number

of people that can help.

This month also saw the start of a new

financial year and, with it, we moved into the

sixth year of delivery for this contract.

In the last year alone we took significant steps

forward – not least safely completing the

destruction of NaK and raffinate which were

among the highest hazards remaining in the

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's estate.

A number of our safety indicators have been

strong and improved, but we have also had

events that we need to learn from. Safety,

security and environmental protection will

always be our priority and we have seen a

renewed focus with the 90 day improvement

plan and Dounreay Plan.

Hopefully you have seen our new film

highlighting the importance of remaining

focused on safety, security and the

environment. Thank you to everyone who took

part in the recording. I believe that it sends an

incredibly powerful message – our safety, and

that of our colleagues,

is in our hands.

Please do not

assume that it won't

happen to you.

Phil CraigManaging

Director

Since the last edition of ONE we have announced plans to offer up to around 150 voluntary redundancies in the next year or so, with around 50 agency and contract roles also due to end during that period

First cut outof reactorpond wallThe first block of concrete has been removed from the structure of one of Dounreay's cooling ponds – representing a major first step in demolishing the redundant giant chamberThe pond is one of two concrete pits, six metres deep, which was used to store spent fuel from the Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR). When in operation they resembled deep swimming pools, containing around 500m³ of water, providing shielding for workers from radiation emitted from spent fuel. They have now been drained of water and sludge, while redundant equipment has been removed.

There are around 180 blocks of concrete, individually weighing around one tonne, to be removed from each pond and packaged as waste.

Suzanne Griffiths, Project Manager, said: "Decommissioning the ponds is technically challenging. The team has worked exceptionally well together and applied lateral thinking, deploying new techniques to allow the concrete liner to be removed in preparation for final demolition."

The work in DFR is one of the biggest decommissioning tasks in the UK today, and the safe removal of associated plants and facilities is crucial to getting Dounreay to its interim end state.

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Lights, camera, safetyWorkers from across the site have united to provide a vital reminder to colleagues about the personal responsibility that everyone holds for safety and environmental complianceThey have produced a new film with some simple messages: we all have responsibility for safety. Don't assume that an accident won't happen to you. Stop work if you don't believe it is safe.

Steve Beckitt, Chief Nuclear Officer and equality, diversity and inclusion champion, said: “Our collective aim is to be recognised for decommissioning excellence. More importantly, we want everyone to go home safely. That is only possible if we are a fully inclusive team that has safety, security and environmental protection at the heart of everything we do.”

The film, showcased during a series of movie premiere style events for those who took part, is available to watch on the intranet. It is also being shown to small groups as part of management walkdowns led by the senior leadership team.

Reinforcing the safety and compliance message is just one of the actions being tracked as part of the roll-out of the Dounreay Plan, which was initially known as the Chief Nuclear Officer's Improvement Plan. The plan, which has evolved to cover all areas of the site, captures a range of actions designed to ensure continuous improvement throughout the organisation.

Cameo Green, Safety Representative, said: “You can have the best safety and environmental performance in the world, but it takes just one person one moment to have an accident. That is why it is so important that we look for different ways, such as our new film, to keep reminding people about the importance of staying focused. It doesn't matter what our job is on site or who employs us, we are all responsible for safety and compliance.”

Help prevent mistakes by searching the lessons learned database before starting a job

Stop work if it is not safe

Do not assume that an accident won't happento you

Report events so that thelearning can be shared

DounreayProfessionalism

Up to 2,000 people work at Dounreay on a typical day – all professionals in their respective fields.

Dounreay Professionalism is a new booklet, soon to be distributed, which looks to build on that individual experience by setting out some clear and common standards and behaviours for everyone at the site.

The key message that no matter what your professionalism, you owe it to yourself and your colleagues to follow these simple standards to help stay safe.

At the time of going to press, Dounreay received two prestigious safety awards from the British Safety Council. We will cover the story in detail in the next issue.

BREAKING NEWS

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Lean toolsThere are over 160 'tools' in the Lean 'toolbox'. Not all of these are used during a Lean event or workshop as each tool is selected according to the type and size of the issue being reviewed

One of the simplest but most effective tools is 'Five Whys' which can be applied in any situation where a deeper understanding is required of a problem, challenge or motivation behind an action.

Lean Co-ordinator Lynda Macaskill says: “Anyone can use the Five Whys in any situation, and those with young children will already be familiar with the process.

“When a problem or issue has been identified, bring together those people involved in the task or process. Then it really is as simple as asking the question “why” five times.

“Normally by the fifth why, the root cause of the issue has been identified and then the task is to develop practical, applicable and cost effective solutions to ensure that the problem does not happen again.

“It may be tempting to stop after two whys, but it is highly unlikely that you will have identified the true root cause of the issue, and therefore not found an applicable solution.”

If you are interested in learning more about Lean and Lean tools contact the Lean Excellence Team to book your place on a Lean Awareness training session.

LEAN

Got caughtspeeding

WHY?

Late forwork

WHY?

Got uplate

WHY?

Alarm clockdidn't work

WHY?

Batterieswere flat

WHY?

Forgot toreplace them

Get an alarm that plugs into

the mains supply or even

replace the batteries at set

intervals before they run out

Applicable solution

What is Lean?

Lean promotes improvement by removing non-value added activities. Lean empowers you to create solutions that simplify work processes

The goal is to create an environment where you can efficiently undertake your work without compromising safety

Dounreay photos first on show at new national archive

More than 320,000 images from Dounreay's historic photograph collection have been transferred to the Nuclear

Decommissioning Authority's (NDA) new national archive facility in time for its opening in nearby Wick

Nucleus, the Nuclear and Caithness Archives, will bring together a vast collection of records, plans, photographs and drawings from the earliest days of the UK's nuclear industry.

The earliest photograph to be moved from the site dates back as far as 1948.

Dounreay Archives Manager Ian Pearson said: “I am very pleased to see the collection remain intact and transferred to the perfect final resting place, where it will be treated with all the respect that it deserves.

“Nucleus is purpose built to hold such collections which will be invaluable to researchers of the future. I guarantee that everyone in Caithness will find at least one photograph they can identify with and it's even possible you could feature in one or two.”

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The facility will enable the NDA to honour its responsibility to help offset the economic impact of closing down sites such as Dounreay, that have been major regional employers, as well as safeguarding the historical material.

With the photographic library now transferred, focus now moves to more than 200 tonnes of paperwork, stored in more than 25,000 boxes, at Dounreay which is set to arrive at Nucleus by later this year. Archives from other UK nuclear sites will then follow populating up to 26km of shelving installed in a series of secure pods

Site achievementsto be published

Looking back over the last

financial year, we can see that

real decommissioning progress

has been made.

Two of the highest hazards at the

site have been removed or made

safe. The remainder of the NaK

liquid coolant at the Dounreay

Fast Reactor (DFR) has been

destroyed, and the DFR raffinate

liquid has been cemented into

drums for safe long-term storage.

In the Fuel Cycle Area, the

Dounreay Materials Test Reactor

(DMTR) has been

decommissioned.

Some of the projects have been

captured in a booklet highlighting

the achievements of the site

during the past financial year.

Film makers Marick Partners

came to site in March to interview

some of the people involved in the

expert and innovative work.

The film and booklet are due to be

released simultaneously later in

June.

Check out Dounreay’slatest social mediaactivity . . .

Don’t forget to like and follow Dounreay on social media

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Setting an agendafor change

Dounreay held its first Women's Network event in March bringing together over 40 female members of staffThis is part of the wider equality, diversity and inclusion agenda. An event will be held later this year to launch the network to the wider workforce.

Fiona Bruce, Executive Support Manager explained: "Dounreay recognises the gender imbalance across all areas of the site. As a business we have a moral obligation to create a working environment where equality, diversity and inclusion is embraced. Statistics prove that this improves performance in both safety and business."

So what are the challenges? These are the top five issues that came out of the recent Women in Nuclear survey:

• Lack of respect

• Sexist stereotyping

• Lack of females in senior posts

• Part-time working = no promotion

• Lack of support and mentoring

Focus groups will now work on action plans to look at addressing these issues.

Dounreay was represented at the recent Workers' Educational Association Women@Work Conference in Nairn

Aileen Meiklejohn, Communications Co-ordinator, attended the free day long conference, meeting up with 40 other women.

The WEA Women@Work project aims to dismantle barriers caused by rural isolation, poverty and inequality. It aims to give women a voice in the home, at work and in the community.

The event included workshops on singing, power tools and bushcraft. Speakers from different institutions attended such as Amanda Millen, Festival Director of XpoNorth and Morven Da Forno of Highland Life Coaching.

Aileen said: “It was really good; we got to control a robot and use a VR headset which was awesome.

“Everyone was really friendly and I definitely plan to go again. There were people from all over and from different industries so everyone is welcome.”

Gender diverse companies are 15% more likely to outperform their peers(McKinsey's research)

Companies with more women on the board statistically outperform their peers over a long period of time(Catalyst research)

Inclusive teams outperform their peers by 80% in team-based assessments(Deloitte Australia research)

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End of the road for reactor complex

The Dounreay Materials Test Reactor (DMTR) support buildings are almost ready to be demolished The clean up has taken a decade by a team comprising of DSRL, Nuvia, Matom and GDES operators.

The active ventilation system has now been shut down, removed and size reduced, and the complex is scheduled for demolition later this year.

Fuel pond

• Historically processed irradiated fuel

• Drained, cleaned and the metal liner removed

• Work completed in 2008

• Void now backfilled

Sentencing tanks

• Set into ground outside the buildings

• Redundant since the 1970s

• Tanks lifted out in 2011

• Sentenced as bulk low level waste

Bill Lambie, Project Manager: “This is a significant achievement, made possible through the skills, ingenuity and hard work of the team, and also by working closely with other support functions.”

The main functions of the facility were split into four areas

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PIE cave

• Used to inspect irradiated components from DMTR and the Protoype Fast Reactor

• Highly contaminated and radioactive

• Clean up initially took place remotely

• Dismantled as bulk low level waste

Drum store

• Two seven metre deep storage vaults

• Originally held up to 500 drums of intermediate level waste

• Metal columns stabilised stacked drums and provided secondary ventilation

• Columns cut with a special tool developed in-house

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Playing an important rolein the community

More than 445 jobs have been created or retained in the community in the last three years, through the work of the CNSRP and its alliesDounreay, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and Cavendish Dounreay Partnership (CDP) formed an alliance to support the Caithness and North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership (CNSRP), an informal body of agencies tasked with economic development. The alliance also provides funding for enabling activities.

The NDA invested £21 million into Nucleus, the new nuclear and Caithness archive, which has created 25 full time jobs.

An employee from Cavendish Nuclear has been seconded to the Wick harbour authority to support the offshore wind sector. The Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd has confirmed its commitment to locate its operations and maintenance base at Wick harbour, potentially creating 90 jobs.

Dounreay employees were seconded to support CNSRP activity in inward investment activities, and to support the North Highland College's school link programme for senior students.

The three year (2014-17) CNSRP programme identified a number of priority projects, and these are just some of the areas where NDA and Dounreay have provided funding support:

• Socio economic comparison study (£10,000);

• Overspill car park to benefit Wick John O'Groats Airport and Nucleus (£50,000);

• Caithness Horizons received £90,000 per year, but with funding coming to an end is now exploring ways of generating alternative income;

• An assessment of the role and impact of Scrabster Harbour, and a review of the potential benefits of future developments (£12,500);

• Caithness Transport Forum (£10,000);

• Business mentoring support, which has provided advice and mentoring to new business starts, resulting in 38 companies now trading, and 28 people now fully employed within new businesses (£15,000).

June Love, Socio Economic Manager: “Dounreay has played an important role in the community for over 60 years, and that continues with our support to areas that will create jobs or training and education. Our alliance supports the work of the CNSRP to concentrate on opportunities that will create sustainable jobs for the future.”

Nucleus

Caithness Horizons

North Highland College

Wick harbour

Anna MacConnell, NDA Stakeholder Relations and Socio Economic Manager: "We are very fortunate to have such fantastic people and organisations to work with such as those at Scrabster and Wick Harbour Caithness Chamber of Commerce and the airport at Wick who forge ahead with developments that benefit the whole community. I'm pleased that we at the NDA and DSRL have been able to support them and play a part in the regeneration partnership. For more than ten years we have worked within the partnership, providing funding and other help to the right projects wherever and whenever we can. The results really are beginning to show now.”

Tech team share knowledge withstudents

Dounreay staff members from the Technical Directorate found themselves in demand as guest speakersThey travelled to Inverness for a second time to deliver a presentation after a successful first trip.

Laurence Campbell, Greg McEwan and Andrew Dunnett were asked to return to Inverness after impressing a lecturer with their presentation at The Welding Institute.

The three spoke to over 30 Inverness College UHI students and lecturers about numerous topics ranging from their own experiences to the apprenticeship and graduation schemes available at Dounreay.

Andrew pictured below left, with Greg said: “We were showing what opportunities are available here. We really are investing in the futures of young people.

Apprents get driver training

Dounreay second year apprentices have benefited from a new van driving awareness course

It provides attendees with the theoretical information they need to drive a vehicle on and off site and the practical experience of driving a large van.

All new apprentices or those who have recently passed their driving tests will have to complete this course before they will be able to drive site vehicles.

Ian Mackay, Transport Training and Compliance Manager, said: “We realised that while vans are getting larger and our roads are not increasing in width, some of our drivers have not had appropriate experience.

“Although they are licensed to do so, they haven't driven vehicles larger than those that they sat their driving test in. The course will aid compliance, help reduce fuel and maintenance costs and improve driver morale.”

The training takes a full day, and as well as practice in driving, it also covers vehicle pre-use checks and banksman training.

"It will aid compliance, help reduce fuel and maintenance costs and improve driver morale"

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“The response we received was great, we got a lot of questions from the students and they now have our contact details.”

He added: “The three of us went specifically because I'm still doing my degree, Greg hasn't long since passed his and Laurence has a lot of experience. It shows the progression available here.”

Dounreay is still in contact with the lecturer and hopes to return for another presentation in the near future.

Maryrose Bailey

How did you start your career?

I was a mechanical apprentice at

Dounreay. It offered the best training

scheme in the county.

How did your career develop?

I left Dounreay after my apprenticeship

and went to university to study

Mechanical Engineering. After my

degree, I went to work as an engineer

for some multinational companies.

Why did you return to Dounreay?

I had moved back to the area, it was a

great place to bring up the family.

Dounreay offered the best career

prospects in Caithness at the time, so

when the opportunity came up to

return, I grabbed it.

What are your ambitions for the

future?

I would like to continue to develop

myself and look to move into senior

management.

What is the best thing about

working at Dounreay?

The variety of work.

Hobbies/Interests?

I am the lead singer of the band, Big

Sky who perform in the local area – we

are available for bookings, contact me!

ONE

ONEW I T H

Dounreay was represented for the second year in a row at the UK Nuclear Skills Awards

Calum Murdoch was a finalist in the Engineer Graduate of the Year category at the annual UK Nuclear Skills Awards. Calum is a chemical engineering graduate in his second year of the graduate scheme and is working on site as a chemical engineer.

He said: “I was very proud to represent Dounreay on a national stage showcasing the fact that the nuclear decommissioning industry has plenty of great work for young professionals to get involved with.”

“The awards ceremony was a fantastic experience; it was humbling to be in the company of so many successful and influential people from the nuclear industry.”

The host for the awards was Iron Maiden front man, Bruce Dickinson.

Calum was especially excited about meeting Bruce as he is going to see the band later this year.

Graham Cameron, HR Manager, said: “This is a great achievement and shows the quality of the workforce we have at Dounreay. The standard of entries was very high and Calum was one of only three finalists from the whole of the UK nuclear industry.

“This is the second year in a row that Dounreay has been represented at the Nuclear Skills Awards, as last year Brian Wade was a finalist in the apprentice category. It is a reflection of Calum's achievements and the opportunities that Dounreay offers through our graduate and apprenticeship programmes.”

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Dounreay engineerfinalist in graduateaward

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Ringing back the yearsDounreay apprentices have re-created an iconic red telephone box for a dementia memory garden at the Town and County Hospital, WickIn April 2016 the Dounreay apprentices were asked to help on a community project by building an old style telephone box. The apprentice scheme has a long history of working on community projects and the apprentices were eager to help.

Mark Fraser designed the box during his placement in the Design Office. Mark along with Jimmy Budge carried out the majority of the build work. Jordan Munro, Curtis Coghill, Jack Hamilton and Shauna Malcolm also helped on the project.

Carol Robertson, Apprentice Training Manager, said: “The apprentices have produced an excellent piece of work and you would have difficulty distinguishing between an original phone box and the one they have created.

“Throughout the process the apprentices had support and guidance from experienced tradesmen who willingly gave their time to help the project.”

Memory gardens have been found to help people with dementia. They can be peaceful places to sit and relax and safe places for patients to walk around in.

Marion Marke, Town and County volunteer responsible for the garden, said: “A huge thanks to you all. We are absolutely delighted with the telephone box and we are indebted to Jimmy, Mark, and their colleagues, for the amount of work they have carried out making such a beautiful feature for our memory garden”.

New waste directorjoins site

Sam Usher joined the Dounreay executive team in May to succeed Bruce Covert as Waste Director

Sam is a chartered engineer with 25 years' experience in the nuclear industry. He started his career with BNFL where he worked in a variety of waste management, engineering, and operational roles, including three years managing the highly active liquor plants at Sellafield.

He joined NNC in 2002 and in 2005 was appointed head of AMEC NNC's programme management team supporting the government's Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM), where he made sure CoRWM's recommendations on the long-term management of radioactive waste were delivered.

Since 2008 Sam has been working for Studsvik where he successfully led the transformation of their UK business, including responsibility for the Studsvik metal recycling facility, as well as eight years as board director for the LLWR Ltd site licence company and its parent body organisation UKNWM. He took on a wider role for the Studsvik group as senior vice president for strategy and business development in 2014.

Sam said: “I am delighted to be joining the team at Dounreay and working with colleagues in the waste directorate and the rest of the site. I look forward to getting to know you and helping to deliver the programme of work that lies ahead.”

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Dounreay staffmove intotown

A major upgrade and expansion of Dounreay's Thurso town centre officehas been completed

David Flear, the outgoing chair of Dounreay Stakeholder Group, officially re-opened the building which sits at the entrance to the high street and has been the site's public information office for almost a decade.

Alongside the refurbishment of the public space two large upper floors, which have been vacant since being a Job Centre, have now been fitted out as offices and training rooms with around 20 members of the company's Human Resources team based there.

David said: “Dounreay is a significant part of our community with a long history so, as things change and decommissioning progresses, it is important that local people and visitors alike have somewhere to ask questions and understand what is going on at the site.

“The refurbishment has been delivered to a high standard and it is good to see our high street utilised with unique places such as this.”

Dounreay Community Relations Manager June Love added: “This investment is good news for Thurso. As well as having more people working in the town, there will be lots of site staff visiting each day to take part in training courses.

“It means more people in the town centre using local facilities which we hope will benefit all of the businesses operating around us.”

“It means more people in the town centre using local facilities which we hope will benefit all of the

businesses operating around us.”

Clocking

offAlex Potts retired

from the siteafter nearly

40 years

Stuart Hamiltonretired fromthe site after

22 years

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Clockingup theyearsCongratulations to all

those who are

celebrating a long

service anniversary on

site, including:

• Bob Johnson, who celebrates 38 years on site on 30 April (started in 1979)

• Michael Ball, who notches up 30 years on 27 April (started in 1987)

• Lynda Chalmers, whose 25th anniversary on site was 30 March (started in 1992)

To put some of these dates into context:

• In April 1979, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was overthrown

• In April 1987, Arsenal won the Football League Cup for the first time in their history with a 2-1 win over Liverpool

• In March 1992, 'Silence of the Lambs' won an Academy Award

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Communities Fundbenefits sportsactivities

Dounreay Communities Fund assists community-based organisations and charities that benefit people in the Dounreay Travel to Work area, by helping to fund a wide range of small-scale community projects and activities

to PentlandCanoe Club

sponsorship ofthe 20th annualCaithness BadmintonAssociation InvitationTournament

sponsorship of the 2017

Bain & WadeMemorial

Tournament

to Thurso RNLI byDounreay EmployeesCharity Fund

These are some of the donationsthat have been made recently

Produced and edited by

Dounreay Communications ©2017

Feedback: Communications@dounreay.com

Dounreay representedat conference

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Dounreay was represented at an industry-wideconference in March

Alan McGill, ATO Support, joined the podium with a host of internationally renowned experts as Dounreay's representative at Totaldecom in Manchester.

He gave a presentation to over 400 delegates about his experience at Dounreay. He highlighted the opportunities that come from being involved in decommissioning and the career path it can offer to young people.

The conference had over 40 exhibitors of new innovations, technical advances and organisations engaged in worldwide decommissioning projects.

Alan said: “It was an excellent opportunity for networking and the interest from suppliers and exhibitors in what we are achieving at Dounreay was high.

“People were specifically interested in the challenges we face technically and also how transferable the nuclear skills and experiences are to other industries, particularly offshore.”

Website launch showcases new videoDounreay has launched a new website giving it a more modern look with improved navigation in line with the rest of the NDA estateThe new site also features a video made by a local filmmaker. Jill Innes of Storyboard Films established her business after being helped by a scheme which benefited from Dounreay's socio-economic fund.

The video provides an overview of one of the most complex nuclear site closure projects in Europe, where the workforce is engaged in taking it apart to meet the closure programme.

This is the latest in a number of high profile projects by Storyboard including films for Venture North and the Caithness Chamber of Commerce.

The website is the accessible 'face' of Dounreay and is updated with news and information on a regular basis, making it a valuable resource for staff as well as the outside world.

Increasingly decommissioning activities are being captured using camera technology and the latest Dounreay film productions are available on the Dounreay TV channel on YouTube.

Have a browse and let us know what you think - send your feedback to: communications@dounreay.com

PR NP2017 April A1.CDR (05/17)