WIREDGOV

NDA has renewed a collaboration agreement with Canadian counterparts for a further 5 years.

The agreement with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL) covers radioactive waste management, decommissioning and environmental restoration.

NDA Strategy Director Adrian Simper and AECL President Richard Sextion added their signatures to the document at an event, attended by NDA Chief Executive David Peattie, during the 45th Waste Management conference in Phoenix, US.

Almost 2,500 visitors from 25 countries took part in this year’s annual conference , which saw a strong presence from UK suppliers.

David joined representatives from Sweden and Switzerland on a panel discussion focused on a range decommissioning issues, while Adrian gave an overview of the progress at Sellafield, now an NDA subsidiary, and expectations for the future .

Adrian also took part in a session on Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi and the UK’s involvement with the clean-up. In particular, he highlighted UKs technology that is being deployed at the damaged plant.

NDA also met with American counterparts to discuss areas of common interest in a follow-up to the UK visit by Anne White, Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management at the Department of Environment. These areas included sludge retrieval for which there was a special session held at the conference with contribution from the US and UK.

AECL, DOE and NDA also held a joint meeting to discuss areas of mutual interest including in-situ decommissioning, near-surface disposal and ageing infrastructure management.

David Peattie, Anne White and Richard Sexton agreed it would be beneficial for the 3 organisations to work collaboratively in these areas , focusing initially on in-situ decommissioning.