Seven good ideas were rewarded
by the Dounreay suggestion scheme
panel in November
The ideas that were accepted will promote safe
working, or save the site money, time and
radiological burden to workers
The suggestion scheme invites practical
ideas from the Dounreay workforce that
result in cost and schedule savings for
the decommissioning programme, and
will reward innovative, tangible ideas
that can be demonstrated to give
financial benefits
The D1217 operator team submitted a
suggestion with the potential to save
time and money. They had sealed the
floor in the south cell with grout, using a
pumping rig and discharge pipework,
requiring pipe rearrangement between
each cell roof opening.
In their post-job fact-finding discussions
they came up with an alternative
method to deliver the grout using a lift
skip which reduced the time and
The scheme is owned and administered
by the Technical directorate. An
independent awards panel reviews and
judges the suggestions that have been
approved by the appropriate project
director.
dounreay.com
The magazine for the Dounreay team
manual work between each roof
opening, and did not require a pumping
rig.
Brian Kenny, Assistant Project
Manager, explained: "By involving the
entire D1217 team in the planning
process and incorporating a lessonslearned approach to the task, the
revised method proved very successful
in conditioning the cell floor in a more
efficient manner."
December 2016
The team is donating
£250 of their award to
the Caithness FM Xmas
Toy Appeal
Getting set for
Breeder removal
story on page 3
5
people received awards
for their ideas in last
financial year
£152K
amount of projected
savings from the
five awards
page
5
8
13
18
page
page
During a break on their APM Introduction to Project Management course, the current Project
Controls Trainees receive their certificates for their Basic Planning with Primavera training from
trainer Roy Howat (Alba Planning Consultants Ltd) and Head of Programme Office, Simon
Coles. From left, Simon Coles, Matthew Swanson, Iona Smith, Lynne McWilliam, Barry
Sutherland, Colin Blumfield, Matthew Mackay, Dale Simpson, Roy Howat
Produced and edited by
Dounreay Communications ©2016
24
PR NP2016 December A2.CDR (12/16)
Feedback: [email protected]
Cell removal progress
Dounreay at supply
chain events
Encouraging women
in nuclear
page
Christmas safety advice
Dounreay
Spare a thought for the
people who will be working
on site over Christmas
and Hogmanay
Clocking
Welcome to the
second edition of ONE
magazine and the final
issue of 2016
Looking back across the year, we have
removed some of the highest hazards
that remained at Dounreay and an
unprecedented team effort has helped
deliver against the government's high
priority fuels programme. Everyone
should take pride in our collective
success.
What is clear when you look through
this edition is that our team is making
progress, not just in one area, but
across all projects.
Next year the challenge continues. We
enter the final quarter of the financial
year where we must continue to find
efficiency savings and smarter ways of
working, making best and full use of
our resources, to deliver on our
commitments.
Each day the team faces different, and
sometimes unexpected, hazards as
we decommission old plant and
equipment. Make sure that you think
through all the possible hazards,
including asbestos which can be one
of the biggest challenges during
demolition. Stay alert to all the
possibilities and keep safety as the
first priority.
I'm looking forward to receiving the
results of our recent safety survey so
that we can continue our journey
together of ensuring we all go home
safely.
While much of Dounreay will
close down for the festive
season, work essential to safety
and security will continue
2
Derek Richardson (L) with Waste Director - Bruce Covert
off
Recently, Dounreay
said goodbye and
good luck to:
Mike Rennie, retiring after 44 years on site – he started in
1972;
Derek Richardson, retiring after 32 years on site – he
started in March 1984
David Mowat, retiring after 40 years on site, 38 with Health
Physics
Stuart Tod, who retired in October, would like to say a very big “thank you” to everyone who contributed to his retirement
collection for Maggie's Highland Centre. We raised £441 on site and Stuart added to this to make it up to £700. Maggie's is a
charity which offers free practical, emotional and social support to people with cancer and their family and friends. The
collection raised on site will be donated to the Highland branch located at the Raigmore Hospital that supported Stuart and his
family through his treatment.
CNC visit to school
The children were learning about “people who help
us”, a project that teaches them about people they
can approach if they need help.
The CNC officers explained the role of the Police to
the children, and let them sit in a police car and
activate the lights and sirens; while a dog handler
and Police dogs Dio and Mindy demonstrated
what the dogs are trained to do.
Students at Reay primary school had a visit
from five Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC)
officers and two Police dogs to help them with
their studies
Both students and officers enjoyed the visit, which
was part of the CNC's commitment to education in
the local community.
If you are taking a festive break, please
enjoy it, take time to relax and come
back ready for a successful 2017. For
those who continue
to work through
the period, thank
you.
Phil Craig
Managing
Director
23
The site
in pictures
Photo courtesy of James Gunn Photography
Breeder removal
process on show
David Batters, Nuclear Decommissioning
Authority's Chief Financial Officer, visited the plant
designed and built to remove the last of the
breeder elements from the Dounreay Fast Reactor
The Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR) was
designed to breed its own fuel.
room to improve, and are working together
to make that change.
Breeder elements made from natural
uranium were placed in a zone around the
reactor core to produce plutonium.
“I was able to see the low level waste in the
facilities, in drums, at WRACS, the
encapsulation plant and the vaults - it is
great to see the full route.
The team will dismantle the fuel by removing
the cladding and exposing the uranium
'slugs' in preparation for packaging into 500
litre drums ready for storage.
During his visit David said: “I am delighted to
be back at Dounreay for another visit. It was
good to have a chance to meet some
apprentices, trade union reps, safety reps
and other staff.
“I gained the impression that people are all
pulling together knowing that there is always
James Gunn, Dounreay Heritage Officer and
semi-professional photographer, photographed
the UK Pro Surf Association Thurso Surf Festival
2016 in October. The Under 16 and Under 18
boys' heats were held at Sandside Bay.
The supermoon as seen on 15 November 2016
22
“I read many reports in my role so I am
always pleased to get out to site and see the
achievements first hand. This time I took the
opportunity to bring three National Audit
Office (NAO) folk to see the breeder removal
process.
“Value for money and the benefit to the
taxpayer could be seen by the actions of the
team. It was great to see the progress since
my last visit.”
A 'slug' is a small
round bar of uranium
about 6" long
“I gained the impression
that people are all
pulling together…”
3
Lean techniques
improve DMR
process
The Dounreay Modification Report
(DMR) process is very important for
the site and the regulators, but it
needed improvement
What the DMR
users thought
of the Lean
review
LEAN
"The Lean review was an opportunity
to capture a cross section of views
to make an improvement to the
operability and value of the DMR
Process"
George Sinclair, Deputy Waste
Manager and DMR Lean Review
Team Member
It was frequently accompanied with the
words "not fit for purpose", "too many
signatures", "it's holding my project up",
"nothing happens now without a DMR." Views
were firmly entrenched and it was clear
something had to be done.
A representative team of DMR users was
formed to find out what the real issues were
behind the problems and perceptions and
what could be done to improve things. There
were Authority To Operate (ATO) holders,
safety case specialists, environmentalists,
project managers and others, who under the
guidance of Lean consultant Ishai Perelman
and his assistants, followed the Lean DMAIC
(an acronym for define, measure, analyse,
improve and control) Work Out
methodology. Pinning down the root cause
of the problems and sorting them can be
challenging, but Lean has the tools to do
this.
After months of hard work by the Lean
implementation project team – Neil Buchan,
Bryan Dods and Julian Ginniver, plus the
continued support of the Lean DMR team,
What is Lean?
The core idea is to
maximise customer value
while minimising waste
(Lean Enterprise Institute)
4
that we now have a new process where
anomalies, inconsistencies and lack of
clarity have been removed. Roles and
responsibilities have been redefined. The
requirement for a DMR has been better
defined and the role of the ATO holder has
been enhanced. The whole process of
dealing with DMRs has been reset.
The project team commented: “Changing
the process was the easy bit - changing
behaviours and expectations is the real
challenge, and Lean has been a real help in
creating a sound platform for complete
process change.”
David Lowe, Deputy Managing Director,
said: "The DMR process has historically
been challenging and time consuming for
project to follow. It was perfect for the team
to demonstrate how Lean tools can
continuously improve the process through
the elimination of unnecessary actions."
Some of the DMR Lean Work Out team are
pictured with Jane Mackenzie, the Lean
Excellence team member working on the
project.
The full team were Alan J Farquhar, Bryan
Dods, Chris Bell, Chris Henderson, Fiona
Forbes, George Sinclair, Gillian McArthur,
Jason Simpson, Joan Docherty, John
Keeton, Julian Ginniver, Mairi Forbes, Neil
Mclean, Richard Sharp and Sandra
Owsnett.
“These comments are based on the
D1204 medium active cell strip out
project. We are just at the beginning
of the DMR process but we have
noticed that the new process places
an emphasis on the project work
and design being completed upfront before commencing with the
DMR.
County looks ahead
as diversification
continues
"What will the future Caithness economy look like and are we
moving in the right direction?" asks CNSRP manager Eann Sinclair
"Every five years the Caithness and North
Sutherland Partnership (CNSRP) reviews the
socio-economic impact of Dounreay
decommissioning, and the latest revision is
nearing completion. In 2011 the study found
evidence that the area had begun to
diversify away from its dependency on
Dounreay, moving into areas such as oil and
gas and renewables.
Since 2011 much has happened nationally
with Government elections and two
referendums. Locally, changes to the
Dounreay decommissioning programme
have also taken place, so the 2016
independent study was asked whether any
changes have affected the local economy.
Early highlights carried out by Glasgowbased consultants Ekos show a number of
positives which supports the view that
targeted investment in key sectors is paying
off and the skills agenda is indeed an
important element for the area's future
workforce.
While the CNSRP gets ready to refocus its
priorities moving into next year everyone
recognises that none of these are short term
projects. However, with a decade of
decommissioning employment ahead, the
CNSRP has time to get the building blocks
in place before employment at Dounreay
declines.
The three independent studies
commissioned in 2007, 2011 and 2016 all
show that there is a progressive positive
impact and it is expected that the CNSRP
will continue to be the 'enabler' of a
programme of work looking at the next three
years and beyond. The CNSRP partners
believe there are fantastic opportunities
sitting on our doorstep and there is real
optimism that the county is heading in the
right direction."
Reasons to
be cheerful
• The business base continues to
perform strongly
• Attainment levels in local
schools are increasing
• The number of Modern
Apprenticeships has risen
• Jobs associated with offshore
wind at Wick are beginning to
appear
• Scrabster Harbour is seeing
increasing oil and gas related
business
• North Coast 500 tourism route is
bringing global attention
“The team found that early assessor
engagement made a difference. For
the assessors not familiar with the
project we offered project
presentations and plant walk-rounds
before the DMR kick off. These were
well received and, when compared
with previous DMRs, we had a
significant reduction in the number
of assessor queries raised during
the start-up meeting.
Suzy Nellies, Project Engineer,
D1204 decommissioning team
21
Appointments
to the
Dounreay
Board
Simon Middlemas
OBE and Bill Root
have been appointed
as non-executive
directors of the
Dounreay Site
Restoration Limited
(DSRL) Board
Supply chain in the spotlight:
Contec
Contec Design Services Ltd was established in Thurso
in August 2008 to provide an electrical, control and
instrumentation (EC&I) design service, with the added
capability of control system manufacture, software
development, testing and commissioning
The appointments follow the decision
of Elizabeth Gray and Robbie Gray
to step down as non-executive
directors.
Simon Bowen, DSRL Chairman, said:
"On behalf of the Board and the site
team, I'd like to thank Elizabeth and
Robbie for the work they have done
over many years to represent and
support the company.
“Securing the experience and
knowledge of Simon and Bill is good
news for Dounreay as we deliver the
contract to achieve the site's interim
end state on behalf of the Nuclear
Decommissioning Authority."
20
The removal of cell roof blocks is
progressing in the Fuel Cycle Area post
irradiation examination cells
The facility was used to examine fuels and
materials that had been irradiated in the
site's reactors. Now the cells where the
examinations took place have been cleaned
up and are being taken apart.
The cell roof is made up of two layers of preformed blocks. The team has completely
dismantled the top layer of blocks and is
now working on the lower layer and cleaning
out any debris deposits in the cell.
Finally they will condition the cell walls and
floor using a generic floor paint to contain
any loose contamination, to make the cell
ready for ventilation removal and
subsequent demolition.
Simon is well known at Dounreay,
having served as the company's
Director from 2006 - 2012. He
remains an important figure in the
local community, promoting future
investment and opportunities for
Caithness.
Bill brings with him a wealth of
experience from many years at British
Nuclear Fuels Limited and Magnox
Electric. He is now a principal
consultant for DBD Ltd and sits on
the nuclear safety committees at
Sellafield and URENCO Capenhurst.
Lifting the lid on clean-up
Originally set up with four employees, the
company now has seven members of staff
and covers a full range of EC&I services
ranging from programmable logic controller
(PLC) and supervisory control and data
acquisition (SCADA) systems to standby
generation, ventilation control and high
voltage distribution systems. In July 2013,
Contec achieved accreditation to ISO
9001:2008 for design and manufacturing
services.
Currently the company is committed to a
number of ongoing projects at Dounreay,
where two members of staff are embedded
within the DFR breeder fuel removal project
team. Design works are being undertaken
on the D1204 pond clean-up project, D1310
Fire Brigade control room refurbishment and
various other projects across site. Contec
also works closely with the local supply
chain and provide further support to
Dounreay through this route.
Work is predominantly undertaken in the
nuclear sector, with the majority of this on
the Dounreay site, although more recently a
number of projects have been undertaken at
Vulcan, Low Level Waste Repository at Drigg
and for NHS Highland at the Raigmore.
Contec Design Services is a member of the
Caithness Chamber of Commerce and
regularly supports local sponsorship events
being undertaken within the community.
The work is being carried out remotely using
long reach tools which were developed and
trialled by the team before being used on the
project.
David MacDonald, Supervisor, said: “The
team has put a lot of effort and hard work
into making the project a success, coming
up with unique solutions to unique
decommissioning challenges.
“Seeing the decommissioning move forward
and being able to see physical changes to
the facility has been very satisfying."
80
blocks removed
3.5
8
tonnes – weight of
a standard roof
cell block
tonnes – weight of the
T-shaped blocks used to
form the flask posting ports
"The team has put a lot of effort
and hard work into making the
project a success"
5
WITH
Loren Campbell
November saw the first remote handled
higher activity waste shipment from
PFR for a number of years
This was the culmination of many years
of hard work to re-certify the Z6016 flask
for operational use at Dounreay.
Over time, the PFR caves have
produced a large number of waste
crates ready for disposal following work
in the cells, bringing about many
challenges for the decommissioning
team in which knowledge sharing and
team work have played a vital role.
Why did you come to work at
Dounreay?
I have lots of family in the Caithness area
and with the downturn in the oil and gas
industry in Aberdeen the opportunity
arose to come to Dounreay and I
grabbed it.
What's your current job?
I am a Senior C & I Draftsperson working
in the Drawing Office on engineering
drawings and documentation for site.
Interesting fact?
I am a professional ladies footballer and
have represented Scotland at all
international youth levels.
Hobbies?
I play for Aberdeen FC's ladies premier
team. Since moving to Caithness I have
been keeping my sharpness and fitness
levels up by training with the Caithness
ladies' team. I travel each weekend all
over the country to play for Aberdeen in
the Women's Scottish Premier League.
The flask move was carried out safely
and successfully and highlighted some
excellent learning points as the process
continues with five more moves due to
take place.
The operations require a great deal of
support from the wider PFR facility
teams and also the waste, transport
sections and DCP teams all working
together.
Graeme Dunnett, Senior Project
Manager, said: "These waste moves are
an excellent example of the 'One
Dounreay', with various different project
areas actively supporting the project in
providing the infrastructure and
commitment in a timely manner.”
O
Supporting
NFUE
DOUNRE
SHA
FT
&
SI
A
YO
ONE
ONE
Internal waste
movements from PFR
EL S
L
ONE DOUNREAY:
Maintenance
Maintenance services, under the leadership of
Alan Coghill, provide a wide variety of services
on-site to support decommissioning
The team's priority is to maintain
safety, environmental and security
critical assets.
They also:
• ensure the site has safe and
efficient provision of: power,
steam, compressed air and
water;
• calibrate all radiological
protection equipment;
• provide electrical mechanical,
instrument technician, joiners,
painters, estate operators and
plumbers for the site for direct
maintenance, repairs and project
work;
• provide minor engineering
designs, maintenance solutions
and maintenance documents;
• maintain site vehicles and plant
and assets;
• schedule work carried out on
site;
• operate, manage and issue the
lifting stores;
• supervise 106 maintenance
contracts.
spend
£12.4M planned
in 2016 / 17
What next?
Hopefully I can continue to juggle my
football around my new job at Dounreay,
despite the amount of travelling and
training involved. Work wise I have been
given the opportunity to join the
professional development scheme where
I am keen to progress from a
draftsperson into engineering.
6
34K
documents
managed
250
vehicles / mobile
plant maintained
19
Wishing you a SAFE
and happy Christmas
The Dounreay Fire, Ambulance & Rescue Service
would like to wish you all a safe and happy Christmas
DFR sampling
aids reactors
project
Check out Dounreay’s
latest social media
activity . . .
The reactor team has
taken samples of
shielding to plan
future clean-up work
The graphite blocks are arranged in a
circular shield wall around the reactor.
Laboratory analysis of the samples will
provide data for characterisation of the
material and help future Dounreay Fast
Reactor (DFR) decommissioning
projects.
Dounreay's highesthitting post to date
reached nearly 20,000
people on Facebook
The project team took samples by
drilling vertically down through the
graphite blocks in the reactor well area.
The work required design and
manufacture of bespoke long-reach
drilling equipment, a series of cutter
development trials and full mock-up
trials to mimic plant conditions.
Long reach drilling equipment was
required for access and dedicated
cutters were made to pierce through the
aluminium of the instrument liner tube
and to perform the graphite drilling
operations.
Aly Mackay, Reactors Project Manager,
said: “The access restrictions and
previous decommissioning activities
have prevented sampling until now. Due
to an effective design, robust trials and
the dedication of the project team, we
were able to safely and successfully
recover this material.
Story on page 11
“Collection of these samples will allow
the project to characterise the
radiological and physical properties of
the graphite material, which will help
future DFR decommissioning work and
the overall site closure programme.”
250
Story on page 8
For more information on general fire safety visit: www.facebook.com/firekills
18
Don’t forget to like and follow Dounreay on social media
tonnes of graphite
at DFR
9
25mm core samples
of graphite taken
6
metres below working
platform to drilling location
7
Open for business
Caithness is open for business - the message delivered
at two recent events held to engage the supply chain
Stephen Adamson, Dounreay's Head
of Commercial, was given the
opportunity to address around 1,500
delegates at the Nuclear
Decommissioning Authority's (NDA)
annual supply chain event.
Stephen said: "When we are looking for
companies to manage our big
framework contracts, some think there
are barriers to working here including
getting people in the right location. I
wanted to make it clear that there is a
well placed and eager network of local
businesses ready to work with them."
The message was also delivered locally,
when the Caithness Chamber of
Commerce organised a 'meet the buyer'
event so that Dounreay's commercial
team could answer questions from
around 20 representatives of local
companies.
In a busy month for business
engagement, AECOM, one of the
partners in Dounreay's parent body
organisation, also held its own
networking event to meet local
companies and understand how they
can work together.
Dounreay is already exceeding a NDA
target for supporting small and medium
enterprises.
Atomic Queen
shares fond
memories
For some, Family Day was a chance
to show relatives around the site
for the first time and for others it
was a trip down memory lane
Margaret Macdonald came along with husband Alastair,
escorted by their grandson Colin Campbell, who works on site as
a mechanical engineer for Waste directorate.
Margaret was crowned Dounreay Atomic Queen at a local dance
in Reay in 1955. Here she takes us back to her first memories of
the site and how times have changed since arriving with her
parents at No 10 Upper Dounreay in 1942.
Dounreay
marked
Tomorrow's
Engineers
Week in
November
with the
help of local
school
children
“My father worked on the construction of the Dounreay aerodrome
and camp, using a horse and cart to transport the runway and
military camp materials.
“The workmen were housed in the camps. They were well looked
after with a good canteen, picture house and social club, holding
frequent dances attracting the local ladies from around the county.
“I remember the camps as a hive of activity full of workers. Every
day I would drive my father's little grey Fergie tractor through the
site collecting the waste from the canteen to feed our pigs."
UKAEA took on ownership of the local farmland at Lower Dounreay
and Isauld and the construction of Dounreay started.
Margaret recalls: “I remember the snowstorm blocking the road at
Forss for days on end and Dounreay's lorries full of building
material getting stuck.
“I remember the old red buses transporting the men from the
camps to the site. There was also a small private mini-bus taking
the men into Thurso for a taste of the local nightlife.”
Pictured with Colin are Margaret and Alastair outside the entrance
to the Family Day event which was held in October.
£100M
30%
8
Supply chain
spend in 2016 / 17
Spend with SMEs in
2016 / 17 - best in
NDA estate
17
In a number of ways DIT has gone on to
demonstrate how one team can operate, with
people coming together from different
directorates and working towards a common
goal.
Steve Beckitt, Chief Nuclear Officer, said:
"Nearly two years after its formation, many of
the actions taken forward by DIT are
sufficiently progressed that work is becoming
business as usual, and so the work of this
particular project will be completed by the
end of December.
The CNSF was established by the
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
(NDA), Dounreay and the Dounreay
Stakeholder Group as a planning
condition of the low level waste vaults.
Its remit is to distribute £4 million
between 2011 and 2023, funded entirely
by the NDA.
It has so far committed more than
£1.5 million to community projects in
Caithness and north Sutherland.
DIT was formed in response to a number of
incidents to ensure that actions to improve
Dounreay's safety culture were owned and
taken forward.
OM
DEC
MI
S SI
ONING EX C
EL
E
Twenty six community projects were
awarded more than £300,000 in the last
12 months, according to the Caithness
and North Sutherland Fund (CNSF)
2016 annual report.
During the last two years the Dounreay
Improvement Team (DIT) has provided
leadership and focus for many of the
important changes that have been delivered
NC
Far north groups and organisations are benefiting from
the community fund set up as a planning condition for
the low level waste vaults
Looking back at DIT
LE
Waste fund
benefits community
DOUNREAY
IMPROVEMENT
T
E
A
M
"DIT has also offered significant secondment
opportunities to work within the team and
gain new experience and skills. Many have
taken that opportunity, tried something
different and made a positive contribution to
improving the site's safety culture.
"Improvement is a continuous process and it
is important that the site continues to focus
on challenging the programme, finding
innovative solutions, and improving safety
culture."
Every team and directorate on site has a
responsibility to continue this work, with
support from the Chief Nuclear Officer's
directorate and the Lean team, who will
continue to offer support.
Some achievements
• Completion and delivery of the RSA
Variation forward action plan
• Introduction of Leaders for Safety
Seminars
• Sponsoring a full time safety
representative
• Building good links with the site's
trade union safety representatives
• Benchmarking across the industry
Thrumster primary school parent council has built an outdoor pavilion in the
school grounds, which is used by the students, and the local playgroup, for extracurricular activities. The local community is also able to use it for events such as
the local gala and a Christmas fayre with Santa.
The Dunnet Forestry Trust has acquired a
wood chipper and storage container with
the help of the fund, to help them manage
the woodland and ensure that the forest
continues to be a safe recreational area.
• Introduction of Hudson Model to
demonstrate the site's safety culture
• Causal analysis of significant issues
identified by Decommissioning
Excellence process, including
investigation reporting, site injuries,
environmental performance and
deficiencies in behaviour.
The Dunbeath and District Centre has
upgraded their kitchen equipment, which staff
and volunteers are finding extremely beneficial
as they prepare around 85 hot home-cooked
meals on a weekly basis for centre users. They
are now able to offer a 'take away' service for
housebound residents of the community.
16
9
Site postie and keen golfer Eileen
Manson has won the Thurso Golf
Club Ladies' Club Championship
nd
for the 32 time
She is pictured with the Ladies Quaich, which was
donated by ex-Dounreay manager Dave Thom.
Eileen has been in the finals for the championship
a staggering 38 times in a row.
Her first win was in 1979, about the same time that
she started working on site.
She has also won the Reay Golf Club Ladies'
Championship 16 times in a row.
Security and Resilience
directorate established
The structure will enable safe, secure and
compliant decommissioning of the site
The new structure brings together the
emergency arrangements, fire and
rescue, site shift managers and security
teams. It will be supported by the
Civilian Guard Force (CGF) and Civil
Nuclear Constabulary (CNC).
The main focus of the directorate is to
enable safe, secure and compliant
decommissioning but it will also
enhance the planning for, response to
and recovery from an incident,
regardless of the cause.
accreditation and supporting the
NDA cyber security and resilience
programme
• Assurance - ensuring site and
supply chain compliance with
security and resilience related
regulations, policy, Licence
Conditions, including board and
customer requirements
• Support - providing business
services and support to the
directorate
The new directorate was established on
1 December, and Matt commented: “I
am delighted to have been asked to
lead the Dounreay security and
resilience activities.
“We have a great team here on site and
we receive excellent support from our
CGF and CNC colleagues. Going
forward we hope to embrace the 'One
Dounreay' mission and enable safe,
secure and compliant decommissioning
of the site”.
The directorate will be led by Matt Fox
and is made up of five sections:
• Resilience - emergency
arrangements, fire and rescue, and
site shift management
• Delivery - personnel, physical,
projects, and transport security,
including CGF and CNC
• Cyber - leading our cyber security
and information assurance activities,
including information and
communications technology (ICT)
Staff from Dounreay's Security team supported Breast Cancer
Now's 'Wear It Pink' Day in October by wearing pink. They passed
a collection bucket around and raised £304. Thank you to everyone
who contributed. Breast Cancer Now is the UK's largest breast
cancer charity.
wear it
Second year instrument technician
apprentice Eleanor Tunn is pictured
on the front cover of the NDA's latest
publication on “Attracting and
retaining skills”. The photo was
taken in the North Highlands
College's Engineering Technology
and Energy Centre (ETEC).
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Public sector
workforce reforms
Guardforce company
wins award
Profile Security Services has won a
prestigious Nuclear Decommissioning
Authority (NDA) Supply Chain Award
for its work at Dounreay
The UK Government is currently reforming public sector
pensions that will have implications for Dounreay and the
rest of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) estate,
to ensure that they are fair and affordable in the face of a
challenging economic climate
Dounreay employees who are in the
Combined Nuclear Pension Plan
Defined Benefits scheme will be
affected by the proposed reforms.
Most of the public sector has already
moved from final salary to career
average defined benefit (CARE) pension
schemes, and the expectation is that
final salary pension schemes across the
NDA estate will have been reformed by
April 2018.
The NDA has been in discussion with
the national trade unions since June to
explore viable alternative comparable
options to CARE. As part of these
discussions, the NDA has confirmed
that the reforms will not affect pension
benefits already accrued at the date of
implementation, but will apply to future
accruals only.
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Profile manages the Civilian Guard Force,
which has provided a security function at
Dounreay for over two years.
We expect employer consultation on the
pension reform proposals to take place
early in the new year and affected
Dounreay staff will be notified in
advance of when the consultation
period will start and conclude.
TM
Dounreay will continue to keep local
trade union representatives up to date
about the reforms, and will provide
information on progress or
developments as they arise.
If you are affected by the reforms and
have any questions, please direct them
to Communications
([email protected]) ,
who will collate the questions and coordinate responses.
The company is the first recipient of the
Enhancing Capability and Capacity award,
which was presented to reflect the
innovation and delivery of a unique return to
work scheme, where Profile worked in
partnership with Dounreay and Wick Job
Centre Plus.
The scheme creates job opportunities, with
training and work experience for those who
are struggling to enter or return to the
workplace. To date it has created
opportunities for eight previously
unemployed individuals who are now in full
time employment with Profile.
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Dounreay is participating in the Institute
of Mechanical Engineering's (IMechE)
knowledge sharing programme
Dounreay's Gordon Tait represents the site
as a member of the IMechE Nuclear Power
Committee, and recently gave a
presentation on how to get the best from
ageing cranes.
His presentation included problem solving,
upgrades to existing cranes at Dounreay,
and how the site's procedures have
changed to take account of the
requirements of decommissioning.
Gordon explained that Dounreay is fairly
typical of the UK's ageing civil nuclear sites
with the majority of the cranes now being 50
or 60 years old and with the some original
manufacturers no longer in business.
His presentation highlighted learning
opportunities from recent experiences on
site, including fixing a historical problem with
the building crane at the Dounreay Materials
Test Reactor (DMTR).
“The cranes were built in an era of sound
engineering and in general, the structures
are still as good as the day they were
made,” Gordon said.
“Difficulties arise however with sourcing of
spare parts and in providing retrospective
substantiation. Correctly managed however,
they can still provide valuable service into
the future.”
Dounreay has signed up
to the Women in Nuclear (WiN)
Industry Charter
Women are under-represented in the
nuclear industry, currently making up
only 22% of the workforce in this sector
The leadership team recognise this challenge
and has committed to making a difference by
signing up to the WiN Charter.
arrangements to identify possible
improvements in how we manage these
issues are managed.
When you look at the statistics, Dounreay is
above the estate average with 30% of women
making up the workforce. However, the
Executive Committee recognise there is more
we can do to attract and retain women into
the nuclear industry, along with publicising
what the nuclear industry has to offer.
Management's objective is to demonstrate
that gender equality, diversity and inclusion is
a key part of business strategy, with
consistent commitment to progressing
women in the workplace that covers the entire
organisation, not just isolated areas.
Although diversity and inclusion is far broader
than gender, it's a good place to start. In
recognition of the wider diversity and
inclusion agenda, Capita Consulting has
been commissioned to carry out an audit of
Dounreay's existing diversity and inclusion
feedback from the diversity and inclusion
review, will be used to determine the key
themes which will then form the basis of the
event agenda.
Further updates on these activities will be
communicated in due course.
As part of the commitment to this Charter, a
'Women in the Workplace' event may be
hosted next year.
In order to gain feedback and opinions a
short survey will be issued to all women at
Dounreay. The survey feedback, together with
For information on WiN please contact
Fiona Bruce; ext 6004 or Tina
Wrighton; ext 6086.
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