Britain’s NNC has won a contract worth about £1.5 million to decommission a training reactor at the Royal Naval College in Greenwich. The NNC team will begin work on site in April next year to dismantle and remove the reactor – known as Jason – and prepare the building for unrestricted use. The project requires particularly sensitive and careful handling by NNC because Jason was built inside a Grade 1 listed building (see photo) which is part of a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The building must be restored to its original state, once the reactor has been removed.
The reactor was built inside a ground floor lecture hall and has been used by the Navy for more than 35 years to train personnel for the operation of nuclear propelled vessels. The contract, won in competitive tendering, was awarded by the Ministry of Defence, involves complete “hands-on” dismantling of the reactor and ancillary services. NNC will also be responsible for the safe disposal of the radioactive waste generated, including waste reduction, segregation and packaging for transportation to the low level waste repository at Drigg, near Sellafield.
