EnergySolutions
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This article is part of the Nuclear Spin project of Spinwatch. |
EnergySolutions is a US-UK firm that is decommissioning 22 nuclear power stations in the UK.
Contents
Background
EnergySolutions was formed in 2006 by merging BNFL's US nuclear clean-up division BNG America, with Duratek, Envirocare of Utah, and part of Scientech. It has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since November 2007 and operates in two Canadian, 28 US and 18 European locations.
In March 2012 it was awarded one of the first contracts for the clean-up of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, the site of one of the world's worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl accident in 1986. It will be tasked with decontaminating the seawater that was used to cool the reactor as it went into meltdown. The clean-up contract is thought to be worth between £20m and £30m. [1]
EnergySolutions says it is "one of the largest providers of services to safely transport, process, and dispose of radioactive materials." The businesses still operate as different divisions of the company:
- BNG America - nuclear design, engineering & technology
- Duratek - processing of nuclear waste
- Envirocare of Utah - the US's largest commercial low level nuclear waste disposal facility
- Scientech D&D - radioactive materials management consultancy [2]
Clients include:
- US Department of Energy
- US Department of Defense
- US National Nuclear Security Administration
- US Army Corps of Engineers
- a range of nuclear energy producers [3]
It also works in the following countries: China, Canada, Japan, Korea, Taiwain, UK.
UK nuclear clean-up work
In the UK it holds contracts with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to manage the UK’s Magnox (an early generation and now obsolete form of nuclear power) reactor sites. This involves generating electricity at Wylfa on Anglesey and Oldbury in South Gloucestershire and managing the clean-up and decommissioning at eight other sites around the UK.
In July 2006, the company led a bid to manage the UK's national repository of low-level radioactive waste, located near Drigg in Cumbria. Other consortium members were the British Nuclear Group and engineering firms Jacobs Babtie and Fluor.
The company clearly has designs on more nuclear clean-up work in the UK. Its International Group President, Philip Strawbridge, said: "EnergySolutions is uniquely qualified to manage the low-level waste repository near Drigg, to provide expertise for the UK's national low-level waste programme, and to assist the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority with the UK's environmental restoration programme. [4]
People
UK government secondment
In 2011 Freedom of Information requests revealed that an Energy Solutions employee was on secondment to the Office for Nuclear Development in the Energy Markets & Infrastructure division from 08-Nov-2010 30-Sep-2011. [6]
Affiliations
Contact
- Address: 3A Churchward, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 7HB
- Tel: +44 (0) 1235 514310
- Fax: +44 (0) 1235 514358
- Website: http://www.energysolutions.uk.com/
Notes
- ↑ Fiona Harvey, EnergySolutions awarded Fukushima clean-up contract The Guardian, Wednesday 14 March 2012
- ↑ 'About us', Energy Solutions website, undated, accessed February, 2007.
- ↑ 'Government clients', Energy Solutions website, undated, accessed February, 2007.
- ↑ 'EnergySolutions To Lead International Consortium Bid To Manage Radioactive Waste Repository', Energy Solutions website, 26 July, 2006.
- ↑ Nuclear Development Forum, 27 October 2011, 12noon – 2pm, List of Attendees
- ↑ DECC response to Caroline Lucas MP FOI Request on government secondees. Dated 2 September 2011
- ↑ Nuclear Development Forum, 27 October 2011, 12noon – 2pm, List of Attendees
