A nuclear engineering specialist has been sharing its knowledge with Sellafield Ltd.

On Tuesday Cavendish Nuclear demonstrated its knowledge and experience of modular design and construction with an audience of professionals from the site.

Modular Build 2018, a half-day conference held at the Hinton House offices of Sellafield at Birchwood, brought together more than 70 engineers and project managers representing some of the world’s largest nuclear clean-up projects.

They heard how innovation in modular techniques has the potential to deliver cleanup work faster, safer and at lower cost.

The event was organised by Sellafield and the Design Services Alliance, which provides Sellafield with access to major contractors operating across the supply chain to the UK nuclear industry.

Cavendish Nuclear and its parent company, Babcock International Group, both gave presentations at the event.

Babcock outlined its experience of modular construction at Rosyth in Fife, Scotland, including the assembly of the Queen Elizabeth class of aircraft carriers and infrastructure for Terminal Five at Heathrow.

The facilities at Rosyth allow for large-scale assembly and testing of critical infrastructure before they are delivered to customers ready for use. Six primary nuclear containment doors, each weighing approximately 13 tonnes, were manufactured and tested at the facility before being delivered to Sellafield for the Pile Fuel Cladding Silo (PFCS) decommissioning project last year.

Cavendish Nuclear described its production facility at Whetstone, Leicestershire, where a series of modular facilities were assembled and tested before being installed at the former nuclear power station at Berkeley in Gloucestershire.

“Off-site modular construction and testing significantly reduces the risks during installation and commissioning in hazardous areas and can deliver safer, faster and more cost-effective clean-up and remediation of redundant nuclear plant,” said Paul Smith, director of nuclear services at Cavendish Nuclear.

“Cavendish Nuclear and our parent company were delighted to be able to share our experience in this sector with DSA colleagues from Sellafield Ltd.”