Information Centre
Here you will find the latest information and news on our activities across the Harwell and Winfrith sites.
Please also refer to the Harwell and Winfrith Decommissioning Up-dates on the Publications page and Harwell and Winfrith Achievements for additional news and activities across the two sites.
For general, media or photographic enquiries, please call the appropriate contact.
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Monday 7 December 2009
East Hendred Parish Council receives donation from RSRL
East Hendred Parish Council benefited from a donation from Research Sites Restoration Ltd on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, to continue with one of its key community projects known as “Snells Path Walkway”.
Tuesday 1 December 2009
RSRL raises community awareness
RSRL helped raise awareness within the community by sponsoring Road Safety Week, 23-29 November 2009. Co-ordinated by Brake the road safety charity, this annual event aims to raise awareness about road safety issues and help prevent road death and injury.
Monday 30 November 2009
RSRL support event to mark 100 years of scouting in Weymouth
RSRL sponsored the Scouts who marked 100 years of Scouting in Weymouth and Portland. Hundreds of Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers joined in the Weymouth Pavilion based extravaganza. The girls, boys and their leaders spent an afternoon taking part in a treasure hunt through the town and meeting up at the Weymouth Pavilion theatre, where they saw displays of Scouting memorabilia, old uniforms and photographs, they also took part in a Grand Howl, camp fire sing song.
Sunday 29 November 2009
Trade Union Safety representatives visit Winfrith
Trade Union Safety representatives from Dounreay/Harwell/ Culham and UKAEA Ltd visited Winfrith recently for a sharing of best practice exercise. They took part in safety walk rounds of the Waste Encapsulation Treatment Plant and the Treated Radwaste Store.
Wednesday 25 November 2009
Atomic research lab at Harwell honoured by Royal Society of Chemistry
The birthplace of the British nuclear industry will tomorrow be awarded a Chemical Landmark Plaque by the Royal Society of Chemistry, to be unveiled by the chemists who worked there in 1949.
Tuesday 17 November 2009
RESTORE Winter 2009 Issue 1
In November 2009 Research Sites Restoration Limited (RSRL) launched its first external newsletter, Restore, previously having produced individual newsletters for the two sites, Harwell and Winfrith.
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Tuesday 17 November 2009
Supply Chain Charter
The Supply Chain Charter aims to foster good working relations across the Supply Chain within the NDA Estate with all parties signing up to a set of principles encouraging mutually beneficial and rewarding relationships.
Sunday 15 November 2009
New name in nuclear clean-up reports progress
There’s a new name to get used to in the nuclear clean-up industry.
Thursday 12 November 2009
Winfrith Counter Terrorism Exercise “Cuckoo”
Exercise Cuckoo was an annual site exercise to review the Counter Terrorism Plan and tests all on-site aspects of the company CT Plan including evacuation, containment and communications. Such exercises are aimed specifically at exercising the function, effectiveness and interactions involved between the various operational teams working in the field. Dorset Constabulary also took part in the exercise; the exercise was based on the introduction of a vehicle carrying explosives onto the Winfrith Licensed Site.
Wednesday 4 November 2009
UKAEA Ltd hosts visit to Winfrith
UKAEA Ltd hosted a visit to Winfrith, this was funded by EBRD (European Bank of Reconstruction & Development)
Wednesday 4 November 2009
Fusion or Fission - King Alfred's College visit Harwell
Following the success of a school visit earlier this year a group of 12 pupils from King Alfred’s College, Wantage visited the Harwell Science and Innovation Centre for a presentation on Fusion and Fission. The day began with a tour of Dido, a redundant material testing reactor awaiting final stage decommissioning on the Harwell nuclear licensed site. Ed Abel, RSRL gave a fascinating insight into the world of reactors and the work undertaken at Harwell in the build up of civil nuclear energy.
Monday 2 November 2009
RSRL moves into the Private Sector with Babcock
Ownership of Research Sites Restoration Limited has moved from the public sector to the private sector.
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Friday 23 October 2009
New NDA CEO visits RSRL
Tony Fountain the new CEO of the NDA visited RSRL at Harwell on Friday 23 October. This was one of the first sites that he has visited since he took up his post earlier in the month.
Tuesday 20 October 2009
RSRL gets a great reaction
In October 40 staff from the Science Technology and Facilities Council (STFC) and Diamond Light Source jumped at the change to see ‘behind the wire’ as part of the programme ‘Other People’s Business’. The programme, which started in 2006, and is run by the STFC helps staff in RSRL, STFC and Diamond satisfy their curiosity about other parts of organisations on the Harwell Site.
Thursday 15 October 2009
Harwell Parish Council receives donation from RSRL
Harwell Parish Council benefited from a donation from Research Sites Restoration Ltd on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, to continue with one of its key projects ‘Our Street Corner’.
Tuesday 13 October 2009
Sellafield's Engineers visit Harwell
Harwell recently hosted a visit from manipulator engineers with technical & improvement backgrounds from Sellafield’s Waste Vitrification Plant (WVP B355/868); this was part of a project developing continuous improvement and best practice in this area.
Monday 12 October 2009
RSRL brings science to Schools
Pupils at Chilton Primary School have received a donation from Research Sites Restoration Limited towards their outdoor interactive science project.
Tuesday 6 October 2009
Harwell Site Emergency Exercise 15 October 2009
An emergency exercise will be held at Harwell on the 15th October 2009.
Monday 5 October 2009
Girls Football Club receives donation from RSRL
Wantage Girl’s U12s football team replaced their old goalposts after receiving a donation from RSRL. The twelve year olds have a busy season ahead of them with 22 league matches as well as a cup competition to fit in!
Friday 2 October 2009
Skills Pledge
On behalf of RSRL, Ian Wilson (HR Skills Manager) signed, with other SLC and NDA representatives, the Sector Skills Pledge. This pledge demonstrates RSRL's commitment to developing and maintaining employee skills and capability for the future. This commitment is already taking shape with over 30 employees working or planning to work towards NVQs in Nuclear Decommissioning.
Thursday 1 October 2009
Joined up thinking
Research Sites Restoration Ltd, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, and UKAEA Ltd recently signed a protocol designed to ensure a co-ordinated approach to communications.
Friday 25 September 2009
Harwell Nursery receives donation
Children at Kids Unlimited Nursery on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus have benefitted from a donation from Research Sites Restoration Ltd used to purchase musical instruments and interactive equipment for their in-house music sessions.
Wednesday 23 September 2009
Demolition of Building 60
Demolition of Building 60 water tower at Harwell has just commenced using an impressive 95 tonne high reach machine.
Monday 21 September 2009
RSRL's owners to be acquired by Babcock
It was announced on Friday, 18th September 2009 that Babcock International Group PLC, the engineering support services company, is to acquire UKAEA Ltd, the parent company of Research Sites Restoration Ltd.
Monday 21 September 2009
Old Main Active Drain at Harwell
There is approximately 4500 metres of Old Main Active Drain (OMAD) across the Harwell site, linking individual buildings to a main artery drain discharging to the Liquid Effluent Treatment Plant (LETP). The drain is buried at a depth of 4m at the deepest point and 1.5m at the shallowest. The drainage system was deemed redundant in the late 1980s and was filled with grout and left in-situ.
Tuesday 8 September 2009
Safety Director visits Harwell
Alan Rae, Safety Director of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) attended Harwell on the 8th September 2009 for a familiarisation visit on the key hazard reduction projects.
Saturday 5 September 2009
RSRL Exhibits at Dorset County Show
RSRL exhibited at the Dorset County Show on the 5/6 September. During the weekend many local stakeholders were updated about developments on the sites and the formation of RSRL.
Tuesday 1 September 2009
Winfrith host visit from the Japanese Atomic Energy Authority (JAEA)
Winfrith recently hosted a visit from the Japanese Atomic Energy Authority (JAEA). Tsutomu YANAGISAWA and Masahiro SUZUKI were on a fact finding mission as they have a reactor very similar to SGHWR, which they are in the process of decommissioning.
Friday 28 August 2009
The final shipment of GLEEP graphite
The final shipment of GLEEP graphite was dispatched for offsite treatment by high temperature calcination on 28th August 2009. The graphite was the reflector and moderator material used to construct the GLEEP (graphite low energy experimental pile) reactor which was housed in Hangar 8.
Tuesday 18 August 2009
Winfrith Site Stakeholder Group visit Arish Mell
Representatives from the Winfrith Site Stakeholder group recently enjoyed a visit to the beach at Arish Mell, where annual maintenance work was in progress on the stretch of effluent pipeline from the beach to discharge point.
Wednesday 29 July 2009
Board Assurance Committee visit Winfrith
The Board Assurance Committee (BAC) recently held a meeting at Winfrith. They used this opportunity to look around SGHWR and were shown the status as it enters a period of surveillance and maintenance, a visit was also made to the Winfrith Abrasive Cleaning Machine (WACM). The feedback received was very positive, with many members impressed by the enthusiasm for the work.
Wednesday 29 July 2009
Winfrith sponsors Children’s Safety Education Resources
Children at Bovington Middle School were recently sponsored by Research Sites Restoration Ltd who supplied them with ‘Play, Stay and Keep Safe’ resource books, issued by the Children’s Safety Education Foundation.
Thursday 16 July 2009
Harwell-Chilton Campus Local Stakeholder Group
The Harwell-Chilton Campus Local Stakeholder Group was held on Thursday 16th July 2009 at 18:30 at the Health Protection Agency, Fermi Avenue. Prior to the meeting group members toured the Harwell site, visiting B462 and DIDO. The members found the tours informative, providing a good opportunity to learn more about the decommissioning achievements and future decommissioning plans. Terry Joslin, LSG Chair commented “members expressed their deeper understanding of the work continuing on the remaining legacy waste at Harwell - Europe's first and most mature nuclear site."
Thursday 2 July 2009
Winfrith host open evening for local stakeholders
On a very warm evening in early July Winfrith opened its doors and welcomed 55 members of the local community for a visit around SGHWR, a presentation on the A59 project and a site tour. The feedback was very positive, with many guests who had not visited the site for years, commenting on the immense changes and progress to date. The evening finished with a buffet and drinks which gave an opportunity for individual questions and reminiscing!
Tuesday 30 June 2009
Culham Waste Management Group (WMG) visits Winfrith
The Culham Waste Management Group visited Winfrith in June. As well as touring the site they visited facilities belonging to Waste Management Technologies Limited (WMTL). WMTL were undertaking a supercompactor campaign which compacts Low Level Radioactive Waste (LLW) drums with a force of 2000t prior to disposal at the national LLW Repository, the visit also included WMTL cementation and de-tritiation laboratories.
Thursday 25 June 2009
Shadow Energy Minister visits the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus
Charles Hendry, the Shadow Minister for Energy and Climate Change visited the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus today to see the progress being made in the decommissioning of redundant nuclear facilities under license to Research Sites Restoration Limited (RSRL).
Wednesday 17 June 2009
National Stakeholder Group
Over 100 people from around the UK gathered in Manchester as part of the NDA's commitment to consult and engage with its stakeholders. Delegates at the National Stakeholder Group meeting, on 17-18 June, included representatives from the communities around NDA's 19 sites, local authorities, the Government, trades unions and regulators. NDA Chief Finance Officer Bill Roberts said: "Stakeholders have a valuable role to play in contributing to the design of our future activity. They also want to hear about progress and how the organisation is spending their money".
Tuesday 9 June 2009
NDA and USA fact finding mission
NDA's, Ron Gorham and United States Department of Energy's, Merle Sykes and Jay Rhoderick visited Harwell in June to learn more about the sites decommissioning achievements and prioritisation issues within a constrained budget.
Friday 5 June 2009
RSRL Celebrates World Environment Day
Friday the 5th of June was World Environment Day, organised by the UN in order to stimulate action to protect the Environment. The theme this year was Your Planet Needs YOU! – Unite to combat climate change.’ To celebrate the Day, RSRL held a range of activities across both of its sites.
Wednesday 3 June 2009
NDA Board of Directors visit Harwell
The NDA Board of Directors visited Harwell recently. Accompanied by Alan Neal and Ken Heider they toured the
Monday 25 May 2009
RSRL Sponsors Wallingford Scouts
Harwell has recently donated a surplus trailer to the Wallingford scouts, the trailer will help when going to camp as they need to transport a large amount of heavy kit. The trailer’s first outing was on the May bank holiday weekend, when the scouts attended the Oxfordshire County Scout Camp. It will also be used when the scouts head off to summer camp in Dorset. The scouts really enjoyed rebranding the trailer as their own!
Wednesday 20 May 2009
Lithuanian visit to Harwell
In May the UKAEA along with delegates from Ignalina NPP, IEEC and E&Y Baltic visited the Harwell site to familiarise the Lithuanian contingency with UK waste management and decommissioning techniques.
Wednesday 20 May 2009
Portsmouth University visits Winfrith
Environmental Science students from Portsmouth University recently visited Winfrith to look at the decommissioning work achieved to date and learn about the environmental impact of this work. Andy Haas and Mike Rodgers showed the students around the SGHWR and gave them a brief site tour.
Tuesday 28 April 2009
Fission versus Fusion
Pupils from Ferndale School visited Harwell for presentations on Fusion and Fission. Kate Lancaster, STFC gave a talk on fusion followed by Paul Atyeo on fission. The discerning visitors then enjoyed an excellent hands-on practical session with Helen Pearce and Lorna Proctor. The day was completed with a tour of Dido where Ed Abel gave a fascinating insight into the world of reactors and the work undertaken at Harwell in the build up of civil nuclear energy.
Tuesday 28 April 2009
International Workers' Memorial Day (IWMD)
International Workers' Memorial Day (IWMD) is intended to remember all those killed at or by work, and to remind us of the need to protect people from injury in the workplace. The Theme for the campaign is ‘Remember the Dead: Fight for the Living’ and is supported by the SHE and all of the major Trade Unions. Events were held across the world on 28th April to commemorate those who have died whilst at work and this year the RSRL Trade Union Safety Representatives marked the day by undertaking a safety inspection on both RSRL sites followed by a gathering at the Site Entrances for a minutes silence at 12:00 noon.
Thursday 23 April 2009
Winfrith Site Stakeholder Group Meeting
The Winfrith Site Stakeholder Group was held on Thursday 23rd April at the Winfrith village hall. Presentations were given by Andy Staples (RSRL), Andrew Davies (NDA), David Hanratty (NII) and David Prescott (EA). An informative DVD was shown, which explained the operation of the WETP (Waste Encapsulation Treatment Plant) at Winfrith. Sandra Ellis chair of the meeting explained "this meeting gives stakeholders and local neighbours the opportunity to be informed about what is happening on the site and to ask questions directly to all of those involved with day to day operations".
Tuesday 21 April 2009
LETP cleans up
The programme of work to reduce the waste at Harwell's Liquid Effluent Treatment Plant (LETP) continues with over 150 drums of legacy contaminated sludge being cemented ready for disposal as solid low level waste.
Tuesday 14 April 2009
Harwell’s second waste retrieval machine (RM2) continues to perform well
In January 2008, the Performance Based Incentive (PBI) for waste recovery was agreed with the NDA. This crucially hinged on RM2 being able to perform waste and debris recovery operations in accordance with the specification.
Wednesday 8 April 2009
ISO 9001/ISO 14001 and BS OHSAS 18001 Awards
RSRL was formally presented with its ISO 9001/ISO 14001 and BS OHSAS 18001 certificates by its certification body EAQA on 23 March 2009. The presentation was attended by Alan Neal, Kathleen Stevenson and Mark Harbor. The award of these certificates follows RSRL's successfull assessment last October and is a demonstration that the RSRL management system meets the recognised standards for health and safety, environment and quality management systems.
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Wednesday 1 April 2009
Children’s Safety Education Resources
Research Sites Restoration Ltd (RSRL) recently supported local schools within Oxfordshire and Dorset by supplying them with ‘Play, Stay and Keep Safe’ resource books, issued by the Children’s Safety Education Foundation.
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Monday 30 March 2009
A59 Decommissioning and Redmediation
In March 2009 the A59 Decommissioning Project was completed at Winfrith. The Active Handling Building, A59, was built and commissioned in the mid 1960s to carry out Post Irradiation Examination (PIE) on spent nuclear fuels and other radioactive materials. A59 housed a range of radioactive handling facilities including massively shielded cave lines and associated services. A59 was a significant category 1 nuclear facility and is one of the first of its type to be decommissioned.
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Monday 9 February 2009
RSRL Supports Life Education Oxfordshire and Dorset
Research Sites Restoration Ltd (RSRL) has sponsored local children’s charity Life Education Oxfordshire and Dorset with a donation from their sponsorship and donation budget.
Monday 2 February 2009
Company Launch - Research Sites Restoration Limited
On 2nd February 2009 two former civil nuclear research sites, Harwell in Oxfordshire and Winfrith in Dorset, will combine to become one company, Research Sites Restoration Limited (RSRL).
Friday 23 January 2009
NDA Chairman Visits Harwell
Stephen Henwood was at Harwell for a familiarisation visit on 20 January. After a welcome and overview from Alan Neal and his management team, the NDA Chairman visited two facilities.
