SGHWR project update: Shield doors milestone reached ahead of programme

JFN has reached a significant milestone on the Steam Generating Heavy Water Reactor (SGHWR) decommissioning project, with the shield doors manufacture commencing one week ahead of project schedule.

A significant engineering undertaking, the shield doors and walls which can be up to 260mm thick, are machined from over 500 tonnes of low carbon, high yield strength steel. The largest single piece is nearly six meters tall and weighs almost 100 tonnes with tolerances in some cases down to ten-thousandths of an inch.

JFN’s SGHWR Principal Project Manager Stef Lucas said “The shield doors and walls are a good old fashioned heavy engineered product. The size and accuracy of the doors is something everyone involved can be proud of. The shield doors might look like huge lumps of metal but they are part of a highly sophisticated safety system designed to ensure decommissioning of the Winfrith plant is safe for all involved”.

This is the first project in the UK to decommission a commercial Nuclear power station. JFN is working closely with Magnox to complete this project, and has contracted with Hyde Nuclear Group to provide the manufacture of the shield doors designed by JFN which are due to be completed during 2020.

A dedicated team at JFN and Hyde are working collaboratively to manage progress and ensure quality at every phase to satisfy the high safety standards required of the doors.

Nat Kennedy, Hyde Project Manager said “Working with JFN on such a technically precise project has its challenges. We are collaborating well, and it’s a great credit to the collaborative and pragmatic approach of all involved to get to this milestone ahead of schedule. We are all looking forward to completing manufacture and seeing the shield doors working on site.”