Costain has secured funding from the Government linked Technology Strategy Board's £18million competition to develop the civil nuclear supply chain.

Costain has been selected to develop three innovative technologies to reduce the cost of treating and storing nuclear waste.

This competition brings together experienced organisations (such as Costain) with small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and universities to develop the supply chain and encourage innovation. It was co-funded by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

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Costain will work with a range of UK organisations to deliver these technologies. In collaboration with Tetronics International, Costain will develop a plasma waste vitrification system which will reduce the volume, and significantly enhance the stability, of intermediate level waste (ILW).

In a further project being led by Bradtec and supported by Studsvik, Hyder Consulting and the University of Manchester, Costain is developing a system for the gasification of graphite from decommissioned nuclear reactors. This will significantly reduce the volume of graphite waste.

Costain is also working with Createc to trial on site a system to measure the depth of contamination in structures. This will enable decontamination measures to be targeted more accurately and reduce the volume of material to be treated.

Currently, Costain is delivering a number of engineering and construction projects and framework contracts across the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) estate. These have provided the insight into where technological innovation is required to address the challenges posed by the UK’s nuclear legacy wastes.

(CD/IT)