Charging on: vessel installation marks key moment for Sellafield project

Two charge vessels have been lifted into place at Sellafield’s SIXEP Continuity Plant (SCP).

It marks a significant step in the construction of the facility, which will eventually provide filtration services to the Sellafield site.

The project requires a total of 59 tanks and vessels which will act like kidneys, removing radioactivity from effluent streams before they can be safely discharged to sea.

Last December, the facility’s first 2 tanks, manufactured by north-west suppliers Bendalls Engineering and Langfields, were successfully craned and installed in the plants service building.

Most recently, 2 charge vessels, manufactured by Langfields, arrived on the Sellafield site and were lifted into position having made the 119-mile journey from the supplier’s base in Salford.

SCP’s vessels team lead, Steph Elwood, told us how it felt to see the vessels be successfully installed:

We’ve worked closely with multiple teams and our supplier to pull out all the stops to deliver fit-for-purpose vessels to the construction site, so they can push on to meet the next project milestone.

There has been an enormous amount of effort by dedicated people on the SCP project, Sellafield Ltd and Langfields, from the concept phase, right through to the onsite activities to reach this point.

I’m extremely proud and grateful to everyone who has had an involvement in seeing these latest vessels installed in their ‘home’ for decades to come. This facility and its vital components serve such an important role in Sellafield Ltd’s clean-up mission.

Heavy lift specialist and crane engineer, Max Robinson, added:

The identical vessels are over 3 metres in diameter and 3 metres in height, they weigh exactly 14 tonnes each and with the rigging and transport frame the lifts total 16 tonnes.

Initially, the vessels are lifted into place and our site engineers establish a tolerance within 2 millimetres, before the vessels are then lifted out and their stud packs are welded into the structural steel houses. Once the welding has been checked, the vessels are lifted back into position and fixed into place for final checks.

The weather was kind to us, and each installation was successfully completed in 12 hours with a team of 35 people supporting the 19 metre lift and final installation. It was a job well planned and executed by everyone involved.

The SIXEP Continuity Plant is being delivered by the Programme and Project Partners (PPP) at Sellafield and will ensure the Sellafield site’s existing Site Ion Exchange Effluent Plant (SIXEP) facility which has been in operation for 38 years can continue its vital work for decades to come.

The SCP facility will play a vital part in Sellafield’s purpose to create a clean and safe environment for future generations.