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.
Wednesday 8 September 2010
NDA publishes strategy for consultation
The public body responsible for the clean-up and closure of Harwell and Winfrith today publishes its draft strategy for consultation.
Wednesday 8 September 2010
RSRL staff visit Berkeley Site
A number of RSRL staff recently visited the Berkeley Site. This visit formed part of sharing knowledge management and best practice across the SLC's.
Thursday 26 August 2010
Magnox visit Harwell
On the 19th August, Alan Neal welcomed the Managing Directors of Magnox South - Mark Lesinski and Magnox North - Neil Baldwin, and the NDA's Commercial Manager, Peter Welch, to the Harwell site for a familiarisation visit.
Thursday 19 August 2010
Babcock Nuclear's Operations Director visits Harwell
Babcock Nuclear's Operations Director, Tony Moore, visited Harwell on the 12th August 2010 for a familiarisation visit and to learn more about the decommissioning operations on the site.
Thursday 19 August 2010
RSRL launches its second external newsletter
RSRL launches its second external newsletter, RESTORE, for the two sites, Harwell and Winfrith.
Monday 16 August 2010
You dig it!
Advanced excavation technology being used by RSRL could revolutionise the safety of projects that require digging near underground services.
Thursday 12 August 2010
Babcock MD tours sites
Following the acquisition of RSRL by Babcock International, Roger Hardy, recently appointed managing director of Babcock Nuclear, paid visits to the Harwell and Winfrith sites.
Thursday 5 August 2010
Final drum leaves WETP.....
The Waste Encapsulated Treatment Plant (WETP) at Winfrith has now completed its mission.
Thursday 5 August 2010
Euratom visit Harwell
In December 2009 RSRL received a request from the European Commission's Directorate General for Energy (Euratom) to host a joint Euratom/ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) training course at Harwell. This followed on from a very successful course for new Euratom inspectors hosted at Harwell in October 2008. Support for this initiative was given by RSRL directors, the NDA, and by the HSE's UK Safeguards Office.
Friday 30 July 2010
Stakeholder Evening
Winfrith welcomed 55 members of local stakeholders to the site on Tuesday evening for a tour of the site, visit to the ALES facility and a presentation on ZERBA and WETP. Feedback was extremely positive, many individuals who have not visited the site for a few years commented about the tremendous changes which have taken place. The evening concluded with a buffet and an opportunity to ask questions.
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Friday 30 July 2010
Local Stakeholder Group visit Harwell
Representatives of the Harwell-Chilton Campus Local Stakeholder Group were recently given a tour of the Harwell site including the B462 complex, where they were shown an informative DVD on Retrieval Machine 2. This was followed by a tour of the Waste Encapsulation Plant (WEP) – the plant responsible for the intermediate level waste for final disposal from the B462 storage facilities.
Monday 26 July 2010
Project news from the Winfrith site
The team at SGHWR has continued to work with our Japanese visitor Masanori Izumi who remains with us until the end of July. Work is about to start on the detailed engineering assessment work at SGHWR.
Monday 26 July 2010
Project news from the Harwell site
Work has commenced on the final decommissioning of B401.4, just by the new Eastern Entrance. Building 401.4 was constructed during 1954, was ready for occupation by January 1955 and was referred to as the Critical Assembly Building which described the type of installations to be constructed in the building.
Thursday 1 July 2010
Abingdon United FC U9's unveil bright new strip
The newly formed Abingdon United FC under 9’s proudly displayed their new kit, sponsored by Research Sites Restoration Ltd.
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Friday 18 June 2010
RSRL supports local schools
RSRL at Winfrith have recently donated some tuffcams for use at Cheselbourne Village school. The donation allows teachers to plan activities which involves children taking their own video footage and then downloading this to the network PCs.
Friday 18 June 2010
RSRL encourages children to ‘Be Seen, be Safe’
Research Sites Restoration Ltd has joined forces with Oxfordshire County Council to provide high visibility jackets to children in and around Wantage.
Tuesday 15 June 2010
Winfrith Project Up-date
WETP & East All sandy material from EAST Tank 2 has now been encapsulated into drums with a total of 180 drums produced for low level waste disposal. Washing of Tank 2 has been completed and the contents transferred to the Sludge Filtration Vessel for settling prior to final disposal of the liquid to ALES. Preparations for commencing post operational clean-out of EAST are underway. The ongoing removal of redundant pipework from the process area of WETP is proceeding well.
Tuesday 15 June 2010
Harwell Project Up-date
B462 The Retrieval Machine 2 has been returned to service after extensive transfer drum port repairs and can recovery continues. Most of the waste containers have corroded leaving the waste debris loose in the storage tubes; work has to be progressed to overcome this problem. Work is continuing on developing a business case for the removal of special nuclear materials from Harwell. Discussions are underway with regulators to verify that removal of these materials would result in a reduction of security requirements.
Friday 4 June 2010
RSRL celebrates the opening of new security building
Research Sites Restoration Limited (RSRL) recently celebrated the opening of their new security building. The building brings together the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) and the Emergency Response Team and replaces the previous police headquarter - an old RAF guard room - and the old emergency response building.
Tuesday 1 June 2010
Recognition for RSRL's Safety and Environmental Performance
This year RSRL again entered the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accident's (RoSPA) national award scheme to recognise excellence in work-related health and safety performance. The scheme is based on assessment of a broad portfolio of evidence about the level of development and performance of an entrant’s occupational health and safety management system, and also takes into account the entrant’s reportable accident rate and enforcement experience. We are pleased to confirm that RSRL has been awarded a Silver Award.
Tuesday 18 May 2010
Landmark Eastern Entrance Opens New Doors
Staff, contractors and visitors at RSRL Harwell are getting used to an unfamiliar scene – no police officers guarding the former main gate at the front of the site.
Tuesday 18 May 2010
Magnox South Ltd visit Winfrith
A team from Magnox South Ltd recently visited Winfrith to look at the work achieved to date and to use the meeting as an information exchange. The group were given a site overview and tour by Andy Staples, a presentation on SGHWR and Dragon by Kevin McIntyre and Lynda Fryer gave a presentation on Safety and the Environment, Alan Bennett concluded by updating the party on the work involved with the A59 project.
Monday 17 May 2010
A Winning Partnership
Winning 18 matches out of 18 played and one of only three teams to retain a 100% record in all of Oxfordshire's Boys leagues, Hanney Youth Football Club are now looking forward to next season.
Tuesday 11 May 2010
NDA Programme Director visits Winfrith
Dr Sara Johnson, who is the NDA Programme Director for RSRL, Magnox North and Magnox South, visited Winfrith on Tuesday 11th May for a familiarisation visit. Alan Neal and Malcolm Barents welcomed Sara to the site and gave her an overview of all the achievements to date. This was followed by tours of ALES, Treated Radwaste Store, SGHWR and DRAGON and a general tour of the site.
Thursday 29 April 2010
The end of Zebra....
The acceleration of the project to demolish the office block associated with Winfrith’s former research reactor, ZEBRA (Zero Energy Breeder Reactor Assembly) was made possible when RSRL seized the opportunity of funding released under the NDA’s portfolio management scheme.
Thursday 29 April 2010
Acceleration brings decommissioning saving
Funds released under the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s (NDA) portfolio management scheme accelerated the RSRL clean-up programme at Harwell by bringing a building decommissioning and demolition project forward by several years. It also reduced costs by combining projects, making more efficient use of resources.
Tuesday 20 April 2010
Winfrith Project News
SGHWR and DRAGON The SGHWR and Dragon team have successfully completed two projects under the NDA’s portfolio management scheme during the reporting period. The first was the decommissioning of 597 fission chambers which were degassed in the Dragon complex. The second project was the decommissioning of the 12 Dragon reactor tanks, all of which were successfully size reduced and passed through the Winfrith Abrasive Cleaning Machine unit.
Tuesday 20 April 2010
Harwell Project News
B462 Efficiency improvements and the use of the Alstec gamma gate in 462.2 enabled the team to significantly exceed the PBI figure of 670 cans this financial year.
Thursday 1 April 2010
Children are encouraged to ‘Play, Stay and Keep SAFE’
Schoolchildren in Oxfordshire and Dorset are being encouraged to ‘Play, Stay and Keep Safe’ thanks to sponsorship from Research Sites Restoration Ltd.
Wednesday 31 March 2010
JAPC (Japan Atomic Power Company) visit Harwell
In March RSRL hosted a successful visit of JAPC (Japan Atomic Power Company) to the Harwell experimental reactors that are currently awaiting funds for decommissioning.
Monday 29 March 2010
The National Operating Experience and Learning Group (OELG)
RSRL Harwell recently hosted a two day meeting of The National Operating Experience and Learning Group (OELG). It is the first time that the recently formed OEFL Team have met with the OELG which, amongst others include all the SLC’s, MOD, AWE, Royal Navy, NDA and Urenco. The OELG meet on a quarterly basis to establish contact and exchange Learn experiences.
Tuesday 23 March 2010
Presention certificates of Lean competency
Presention certificates of Lean competency went to employees Joe Mackrell and Jim Ruddle at Building 462.27 on the Harwell Campus.
Wednesday 17 March 2010
Winfrith Projects WETP and EAST
WETP and EAST: Encapsulation of the final quantities of sludge in WETP is nearing completion. Once completed final washing out of the tanks and pipework in WETP can take place and post operational clean out will commence in WETP.
Tuesday 9 March 2010
TRAIN benefits from a donation from RSRL
TRAIN an organisation, based in Didcot, who provides support and educates young people aged 11 to 18 who are either homeless or otherwise in necessitous circumstances, has benefited from a donation from Research Sites Restoration Ltd.
Monday 8 March 2010
Students from Surrey University visit Harwell
On the 3rd March students from the University of Surrey visited the Harwell Site to learn more about Radiation and Environmental Protection and Radiation Detection and Instrumentation. In the morning, the students were given presentions by staff at Nuvia on their work in radiation protection. In the afternoon, the students benefitted from tours of Harwell facilities; DIDO Reactor; Building 551 laboratories; ADS laboratories and Building 466 storage pond/cobalt store.
Tuesday 9 February 2010
All hands to the plough....
The simplest solutions are often the best. That’s certainly been the experience of the team responsible for cleaning out the active cells at Harwell’s former Post Irradiation Examination Facility.
Tuesday 9 February 2010
Project News
The SGHWR and Dragan Team have recently started work on the size reduction and processing of the Dragon Cathedral tanks removed during phase one decommissioning.
Wednesday 20 January 2010
RSRL helps keep telephone kiosk in Winfrith village
Residents and visitors to Winfrith village can continue to communicate thanks to Research Sites Restoration Ltd (RSRL) who recently agreed to sponsor the telephone kiosk.
Monday 18 January 2010
Youngsters helped with lifestyle choices
Pupils at Wantage CE Primary School have received one of the most valuable lessons in life – thanks to Research Sites Restoration Ltd (RSRL). The school has played host to the Life Education Centres mobile classroom which teaches youngsters the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle in a scheme partly funded by a donation from RSRL’s local Harwell site.
Wednesday 6 January 2010
SNOW AT WINFRITH
Given that the weather forecast is for more snow later this afternoon, with freezing temperatures, RSRL staff should leave site by 4pm to allow them to reach home in daylight.
Wednesday 6 January 2010
ADVERSE WEATHER AT HARWELL
RSRL management have reviewed the weather condition on site. No significant further snow fall is expected today or tonight, however freezing conditions are expected from later this afternoon.
Tuesday 5 January 2010
WEATHER CONDITIONS - HARWELL
Heavy overnight snowfalls are forecast for tonight, Tuesday 5th January, for the Harwell and Winfrith sites.
Tuesday 5 January 2010
WEATHER CONDITIONS - WINFRITH
The weather forecasts for southern England for the next 24 hours are poor, with a combination of snow, sleet and very cold temperatures. Following a review of these conditions the current advice from RSRL is as follows:
