see page 13 for more pfr sticks in this issue · 4 dounreay news news round-up may 2016 pfr's...

www.dounreay.com M a y 2 0 1 6

In this issue:

Europe’s centre of decommissioning excellence

News round-up

Scaffolder's safety

hats on trial

Dounreay's very own

entrepreneurs

CNSRP

reasons to be cheerful

Flying high with

Flight Lt. Leslie

Sue's News

10-11

8

12

14

20

1-9

Where in

full story on page 4

the world . . . ?

. . . s e e p a g e 1 3 f o r m o r e

PFR sticksto simple solutionsPFR sticksto simple solutionsNuclear decommissioning may cost millions, but it doesn't stop Dounreay's project teams saving money wherever possible.

Nuclear decommissioning may cost millions, but it doesn't stop Dounreay's project teams saving money wherever possible.

. . . s e e p a g e 2. . . s e e p a g e 2. . . s e e p a g e 2

Birds of prey flyinghigh over Dounreay

Use of general household items is common place for the PFR reactor team, and this time the use of a well-known re-usable adhesive was the answer.

Use of general household items is common place for the PFR reactor team, and this time the use of a well-known re-usable adhesive was the answer.

2 D O U N R E AY N E W S n e w s r o u n d - u p

M a y 2 0 1 6 w w w. d o u n r e a y. c o m

Wherein theworld?

[email protected]

Send your stories to

the editor at:

Send your stories to

the editor at:

Eleanor Harness v i s i t ed

Australia recently and is pictured

with a copy of Dounreay News at

the highest viewing platform in

the Southern Hemisphere at

Melbourne's Eureka Skydeck 88.

Two dedicated l i f ts propel

visitors to level 88 in under 40

seconds. Only Skydeck 88 can

t a k e y o u t o T h e E d g e , a

switchable glass cube which

slides out from the building, with

you inside!

Apart from the unforgettable

p a n o r a m a , S k y d e c k 8 8

entertains the entire family with a

host of activities and fascinating

facts.

The screens provide site safety

m e s s a g e s a n d c o m p a n y

information to staff and visitors as

they enter Dounreay.

The Communications team and

s i t e s h i f t m a n a g e r s h a v e

responsibility for managing the

content and we would welcome

your feedback and suggestions

for future screen content.

P l e a s e c o n t a c t t h e

Communications team with any

f e e d b a c k , i d e a s a n d

suggestions.

New deputydirector arrivesDavid Lowe has joined Dounreay as deputy managing director

Although David is a new face to many on site, he has visited Dounreay before in a previous role.

He started his career in the US Navy as a nuclear submarine officer, where he had the pleasure of visiting Scotland on several occasions.

After leaving the navy, David worked as a project manager in the defence industry before returning to the nuclear industry w o r k i n g i n t e c h n i c a l a n d management ro les for the government and in industry.

He joined CH2M in 2001 as chief engineer for the Hanford tank farms in Washington state before transferring to Rocky Flats to bolster improvements in their nuclear safety culture.

Since then David has been the chief engineer and technical programs director in the CH2M nuclear corporate group and has had project assignments on commercial nuclear new builds, licensing and decommissioning projects.

As part of that role, David also visited Dounreay on numerous occasions as part of the parent b o d y o r g a n i s a t i o n s a f e t y subcommittee.

He and his wife Leah have moved to Caithness from Colorado, with their three children remaining in America at university.

In his spare time David likes to go hiking and enjoys the beautiful S c o t t i s h c o a s t l i n e a n d countryside. He also enjoys discovering the archaeological sites in the area.

Safety messages go digitalThe two electronic display screens at the site entrance turnstiles were installed and commissioned earlier this year and have been up and running for a short time.

He said: “I am looking forward to getting out to the facilities and meeting the people performing the important and challenging w o r k t o d e c o m m i s s i o n Dounreay”.

3D O U N R E AY N E W Sn e w s r o u n d - u p


Safety cultureassessment

Following the PFR Tank Farm

incident in October 2014, a

decision was made that the

safety culture at Dounreay

should be assessed in order

to allow improvements to be

made. The Hudson Culture

What is the Hudson Model?

How did we score?In early 2016 a team of fteen

people, including TU Safety

R e p s , w a s p u t t o g e t h e r

representing all directorates.

After reviewing an evidence pack

covering 2012 to 2016, which

included site-wide safety culture

questionnaires and studies,

regulatory correspondence

relating to Dounreay safety

pe r fo rmance , t r ade un ion

comment and investigation

reports, the team were asked to

answer 20 mul t ip le choice

questions.

These questions allowed the

scoring of Dounreay's safety

culture against the Hudson

model.

As seen from the arrow above

Dounreay ’s score pu t the

organisation on the Calculative

rung. This is encouraging but

there is denitely room for

improvement and this will require

a change in our behaviours.

Safety is how we do business around here.

Striving for continuous •improvement

New ideas welcome•

GENERATIVE

We work on the problems that we still find

Things fixed before •accidents

Procedures ‘owned’ by •workforce

PROACTIVE

CALCULATIVE

Safety is important: we do a lot every time we have an

accident.

Lots of discussions of •accident

Safety after accidents•

REACTIVE

Who cares as long as we don’t get caught

Accidents are accepted• Sack people who have •

accidents

PATHOLOGICAL

We have systems in place to manage all hazards

Lots of audits• HSE advisors chasing •

statistics

We are here

For more information

contact the Dounreay

Improvement Team - D1313

Model was selected as the most practical

model for Dounreay.

The model has five levels (seen on

right),with Generative being the best safety

culture and Pathological being the poorest.



PFR's sticky solutionThe PFR reactor team have become fairly well-known for their cost-effective use of general household items to solve decommissioning problems.The reactor decommissioning team needed to take samples of metal from holes drilled at the base of the PFR reactor.

During the planning phase the in-house design team were tasked w i t h t h e m a n u f a c t u r e o f equipment capable of taking samples in a radiological and hazardous environment.

The team opted for a simple solution rather a new design and build project, resulting in a substantial saving for the NDA

After a bit of lateral thinking they attached some BLU-TACK to the end of a long flexible rod, which meandered nearly ten metres deep into the reactor core and picked up samples of the metal which stuck to the BLU-TACK.

Inspecting the depths of a former nuclear reactor with remotely c o n t r o l l e d d e v i c e s i s a challenging process and requires c l e v e r t h i n k i n g a n d t h e

m a n u f a c t u r e o f b e s p o k e equipment.

Calder Bain, a member of the PFR design team, said: “We are sixty years on from the decision to build the Prototype Fast Reactor and innovation has been the key to its success.

“There is a continual requirement f o r i n v e n t i v e m e t h o d s t o dismantle a complex nuclear reactor.

“ T h e n a t u r e o f t h e decommiss ion ing work a t Dounreay gives both our young and experienced engineers the opportunity to put their innovative sk i l l s and knowledge in to practice.”

Calder is proud to be sharing his knowledge with a team of DSRL engineers to pass on his years of experience and expertise to a new generation of professionals who will be taking apart the reactor when the time comes.

ECD team in cliff erosion fixThe ECD team found a solution to repair the crumbling cliff face that was preventing access to part of the foreshore.The cliff and access road used to get to the sampling areas has gradually been eroded by ground water flow and the sea, until by 2014 the road was only four metres from the cliff edge. For safety reasons, vehicle access was stopped.

The team collaborated with Arch Henderson to come up with a solution to the erosion.

The solution was to use rock armour, placed in the shape of a pyramid at the base of the cliff, around the area of erosion to p ro tec t i t . Th is shape can withstand great pressure from all sides.

The rock armour ranged in weight from half a tonne to two tonnes. The team placed the rocks in an interlocking pattern, crucial to withstand the forces of nature.

ECD assistant project manager Ali Simpson said: “A solution was found using natural materials that allowed the ground water flow to continue without affecting the integrity of the cliff face and also to act as a barrier to the winter storms that were eroding the cliffs.

“It means that we can now get to areas that were prev ious ly inaccessable.”



Savings to be madethrough NDA schemeLaurence Campbell has saved the site over £100,000 by taking advantage of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) asset transfer scheme.The technical directorate senior engineer, who regularly checks the NDA transfer list, saw 90 red and white water filled barriers were available for transfer. The barriers are now in use on site with o n l y t r a n s p o r t a t i o n c o s t s incurred, saving the site £9,000.

Dounreay has also received scaffolding worth more than £100,000 through the scheme. This will help to reduce future site costs for scaffolding and fireproof boards.

Ricky Trueman and Alan Macdonald provided invaluable h e l p b y o r g a n i s i n g t h e transportation of the items to Dounreay.

The NDA asset database lists assets which are no longer r e q u i r e d b y s i t e l i c e n c e companies (SLCs) and can be transferred free of charge to other

SLCs. The receiving site only pays for the transportation costs. This scheme saves the SLCs money and ultimately provides savings for the taxpayer.

Te c h n i c a l D i r e c t o r a t e Maintenance Authority, Mick Jones, said: “There are various assets available on the NDA database that can be transferred from the advertising site to Dounreay.

“These vary from electr ical equipment to moducons.

“I would encourage anyone on site who has influence or control over the procurement of assets or systems to review the database, at the design stage of a project.

“This could realise significant savings to the project and ultimately to the tax payer.”

New workshops being held on siteRepresentatives of the Health & Safety Laboratories (HSL) were invited to site to hold a workshop on management of ageing plant and facilities.T h e w o r k s h o p r a i s e s t h e awareness of how ageing can be identified and the mechanisms for managing the ageing process.

Pictured inside the DFR sphere are representatives from HSL along with Mick Jones and Laurence Campbell.

HSL form part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and u n d e r t a k e a c c i d e n t a n d investigations across the United Kingdom and Europe on behalf of the HSE.

If you would like to find out more, or are interested in attending fu r ther workshops, p lease contact Mick or Laurence in the technical team.

John Lawes, the NDA's Contract Manager for DSRL, added: “The NDA provides this facility so that s i t e l i c e n c e c o m p a n i e s throughout the NDA estate can see surplus assets available at other sites and transfer them potentially making big savings for the tax-payer.

“Last year DSRL obtained a fire-eng ine f rom S i zewe l l and transferred a number of assets to Sellafield.

“I add to what Mick Jones says and strongly encourage DSRL project teams to check the NDA asset database. Well done to these teams”.

NuclearDecommissioningAuthority



Dounreay boss:working as one teamPhil Craig, DSRL's managing director, writes about the reprioritisation of the fuel movements and working togetherLast year the UK Government published its strategy for nuclear fuels held on the NDA's sites, so that the UK's plutonium stocks can be reused as fuel where possible.

Following this decision the NDA instructed us that all the nuclear mater ial held at Dounreay, inc luding the breeder and exotics, was to be removed from the site.

The majority of this material will go to Sellafield, and the highly enriched uranium that Dounreay is holding on behalf of the US Government will be sent to a nuclear facility in America.

We have worked with the Fuels D i rec to ra te , NDA and the regulators to put together a programme which will see the e x o t i c m a t e r i a l m o v e d t o Sellafield. The first transport took place in December last year.

The site's annual funding limit remains the same, so as a result of this reprioritisation some of the work scheduled to take place in the next few years has had to be moved out to later years of the programme.

There has been an impact on the other directorates as we channel additional funding to the Fuels Di rectorate to support the additional work, and you have all shown your flexibility in adapting to the changes that have had to be made.

The PFR irradiated fuel removal project has been paused for the time being. The Shaft & Silo project has been deferred, and project director Mike Gearhart has returned to the States. The team has moved to alternative r o l e s w i t h i n t h e s i t e , demonstrating their flexibility and ability to put their skills to use in decommissioning the site.

We must continue to be flexible to e n s u r e t h a t w e m e e t o u r commitments to our customer, the regulators and the UK Government.

The prioritisation of the fuels programme is a good example of where flexibility is required in order to deliver our programme.

We have faced a number of c h a l l e n g e s , n o t o n l y i n p e r f o r m a n c e b u t m o r e importantly on aspects of safety and environment.

You will know from the staff talks that improving our safety culture is our number one objective and we must not accept anything less than our entire workforce going home safe every day.

On all of these issues - safety, environment and performance – we need to work together as one team, one Dounreay. I strongly

believe that together we can improve our performance in these areas to a level that we are proud of.

As one team, we all contribute in dif ferent ways to the site 's successes, and together we will celebrate the highest standard of achievement.

SHAFT & SILO

SLEUF

UO ND R EE AN YO



Historical secretsof Zone H2The Environmental Closure & Demolition (ECD) team are embarking on characterisation, remediation and restoration of “Zone H2” to trial the processes required to deliver the Interim End State (IES).Zone H2 is situated to the east of the FCA where D8550 once used to stand.

ECD are using a portion of Zone H to trial the characterisation process, focussing on residual g round and in f ras t ruc tu re contamination from historical areas of concern.

The team have produced a desk study which picks out “areas of potent ia l concern” for s i te investigation and also unearthed unexpected features that require further investigation.

They are targeting these areas b a s e d o n h i s t o r i c a l decommissioning records which m a y i n d i c a t e w h e r e contamination may still occur.

In order to meet IES, residual contamination must satisfy risk-b a s e d c l e a n - u p c r i t e r i a developed by ECD.

T h e c h a r a c t e r i s a t i o n i n v e s t i g a t i o n i s c u r r e n t l y underway and will inform on the p r e s e n c e o r a b s e n c e o f contamination, using various techniques from non-destructive assay testing to intrusive trial p i t t ing wi th soi l and water sampling.

The project team are working together with the civils team (Fuels Directorate) and the non-destructive assay team (Waste Directorate), developing co-operation between the teams and disciplines.

The project will develop preferred methods of investigation and remediation techniques, and will be used as a template for costs, timings and the process to be applied as, one by one, areas of site are released to ECD over the years to come.Phil Craig and David Lowe visited the site to see the work in progress and met the teams.

Project manager Julie Morgan showed them the investigation into the former D1249 Cell 2 Criticality Test Facility. The cell was used for criticality tests and acoust ic tests and in f i l led sometime in the early 1980s.

The team need to investigate the historical backfilling and sealing of this sub-surface feature so that they have current and optimised information in order to make an informed decision on whether it can remain as it is at IES.

David commented: "The H2 team was knowledgeable, professional, and doing important work in establishing and

proving the characterisation methods that will be used throughout the site as we proceed to the Interim End State."



Scaffolders' safetyhats on trialThe D1211 project team had to put their heads together to come up with the ideal head protection for their scaffolders.Scaffolding is required in the underground pits of the old low level effluent plant.

All workers in the area must wear airline suits. This led to an issue as scaffolders also need to wear hard hats whilst working.

The team had to find a hat that wouldn't damage the airline suits. T h e h a t a l s o h a d t o b e comfortable, match regulations and be compatible with the headsets.

Several potential hats were identified and after trials a safety hat, which looks like a climbing he lme t bu t has i ndus t r i a l protection, was used.

Project supervisor Ross MacKay

said: “This is a another good example of how simple practices can create effective solutions”.

Six scaffolders completed their airline suit training and a mock-up was created for them to try out the bespoke scaffolding.

This trial was successful although they discovered that building scaffolding took much longer while wearing an airline suit.

The initial stage of scaffolding – to build scaffold access in pit two – has been completed.

The ongoing programme of work will require scaffolding along the length of the pit which will need to b e m o d i f i e d a s t h e w o r k progresses.

The scaffolders' comments were that they found the hats to be very

comfortable and light and they didn't restrict their vision.

Championing Lean Excellence at DounreayLean Excellence is progressing well at Dounreay and with many of the recent Lean Work Outs addressing site wide processes it is important to also encourage Lean thinking on a local level.

Several Lean Awareness training

sessions have been held to

encourage staff from all areas to

learn more about Lean and how it

is being applied on site Lean

Champions have been identified

to provide local support.

L e a n C h a m p i o n s h a v e

completed a three day “Lean

Facilitator” training programme

and have attended Lean Work

Outs to develop their knowledge

and exper ience . They a re

encouraged to identify and

support lean events within their

directorates and can also support

projects within other directorates.

Working closely with the Lean

Excellence Team, Champions

can access advice and guidance

on Lean tools and techniques as

required.

If you have identified a process

within your own work area where

improvements could be made,

speak to your Directorate Lean

Champion, or contact the Lean

Excellence team.

LEAN

9D O U N R E AY N E W Sf e a t u r e s


Nuclear archive taking shapeOn a windswept site close to Wick John O'Groats Airport the NDA's nuclear archive is taking shape.The sleek lines of the triangular building are now clearly visible from the air.

Morr ison Const ruct ion are building the £20m facility on behalf of the NDA on a site donated by the Highland Council.

The archive will be called Nucleus (The Nuclear and Caithness Archive). It is designed to hold more than 20 kilometres of records, and is due to be completed this autumn.

Morrison Construction will then hand over the facility to Restore Scan, NDA's commercial partner that will manage and operate the facility in partnership with High Life Highland.

All of the UK's nuclear records requiring long-term preservation will be relocated to Nucleus over a period of several years. Once transferred to Wick they will be processed, digitised, stored and

where possible made available to the industry and the public.

The PFR stone table is due to be moved to the facility and will feature prominently in the public space.

Made of Scottish granite, and standing four feet tall, the table is carved with Pictish symbols and inscribed with the words “E Cathenesia Ad Mundum” (Out of Caithness to the World).

Anna MacConnel l , NDA 's Stakeholder Relations and Socio-economic Manager, said: “The NDA archive coming to Wick is part of the NDA's socio economic legacy in Caithness.

“It is wonderful to see the building taking shape.

“Morrison Construction pulled out all the stops to keep the work very close to schedule despite some difficult conditions over the winter.

“We can now start to look forward to seeing Nucleus getting up and running later this year and be ready to open its doors to the public in January”.

Due to a partnering arrangement between the NDA and Highland Council, part of the facility will also house the Caithness Archives.

Th is co l lec t ion o f h is to r ic documents dating back to the sixteenth century has outgrown its current home and the new arrangement will allow space to expand.

A large public area in the new building will include a reading room and community space for recreation, study or training.

Dave Hindle has been appointed a rch i ve manager. He i s a specialist in document and information management, and has been involved with the project over the past 18 months.

“It is wonderful to see the building taking shape”

Caithness Archives staff will move to the new premises, and a further twenty new jobs will be created. A jobs fair is being held in May as part of the recruitment drive.

Nucleus will be open to the public by the beginning of 2017.



10 D O U N R E AY N E W S f e a t u r e s


Dounreay's very own entrepreneursMany Dounreay employees have their own small businesses out of work, Dounreay News caught up with some of them to find out more.

John o' Groats BreweryAllan Farquhar works as a facility EC&I engineer, John Mainprize is commercial manager and Simon Cottam is an emergency arrangement co-ordinator on site.

They founded John O'Groats Brewery three years ago along w i th Andrew Mowat , ( the manager of the Seaview Hotel in John O'Groats).

Their new venture benefited from Dounreay's transition programme through the Caithness Chamber of Commerce – Make the Right Connections (MTRC) initiative.

M T R C f u n d e d t r a i n i n g a t "Brewlab" in Sunderland, where they studied for Certificates in Practical Brewing.

Following completion of their training, it took around one year to 18 months to get the legal permiss ion ing in p lace to approve the installation and o p e r a t i o n o f t h e b r e w e r y (planning permission, discharge consent, HMRC registration etc).

The brewery was installed in the old John O'Groat's fire station last December.

It has the capacity to brew around

700 litres in a batch.

Each batch takes around four weeks from the day of brewing till it is ready to serve in the pub.

Their first beer, a golden ale named “First Footing” was first sold in the Seaview hotel in January.

They have since produced "Swelkie" which is now also on sale at the Weigh Inn in Thurso.

The team are looking forward to showcasing Swelkie at the Great Grampian Beer Fest iva l in Aberdeen in May and increasing production at the brewery to allow t h e m t o s e l l i n m o r e establishments.

In the future they aim to: expand the brewery further; begin bottling their ales and develop more recipes such that an amber ale, ruby ale and stout can also be sold.

The trio said “Without the support from Dounreay and the Caithness Chamber of Commerce, the business would simply still be a dream.

LatortaHeather Ross works as a Mechanical Engineer in PFR and runs her own baking business called Latorta.

Heather's partner gave her the push to open up her business just over a year ago and she has been receiving orders ever since.

She bakes a wide variety of 3D and 2D cakes, along with various pastries. Heather biggest project will be making and decorating her three tier wedding cake.

Heather has recently got into floral decorating and has been to three courses down in Perthshire, which she has found very worthwhile.

Her favourite cake was a cupcake cake which contained sweets inside and used a variety of techniques.

Our DSRL taste panel, including Michael Mcgettigan summed Heathers baking up in three words “absolutely amazing and scrumptious”.



Dounreay's very own entrepreneursPezaz

Theresa Mackay works in the dosimetry office and Stuart Rollinson works as an operator in D2001. They founded their b u s i n e s s i n 2 0 1 2 w h i c h s p e c i a l i s e s i n p r i n t i n g , embroidery and etching.

Some of their products include: S l a t e C l a n C r e s t c l o c k s , personalised Santa treat boards, photo slates, etched slate word art, clocks, phone cases, key rings, mugs, banners, jewellery and newborn gifts.

They are busy all year round with weddings, events, graduations, b i r thdays, ret i rements and Christmas. Talking to Dounreay

N e w s t h e y s a i d “ w e l o v e specialising in personalised items and seeing the reaction and delight in their customers face w h e n t h e y r e c e i v e t h e i r handmade items.

We were the first in Caithness to do the photo slates in 2012 and love coming up with new gift ideas."

The duo never rest and are constantly thinking of new ideas each day, with Stuart Rollinson also running his other business c a l l e d C a r b o n - C o , w h i c h special ises in personalised clothing.

StudiograffDuncan McLachlan works in the Communications department on site as a graphic designer and site photographer. His passion for graphic and illustration work transformed into him starting his own business, Studiograff back in 1988.

Duncan then diversified into music and built his own in-house recording studio where the band Whisky recorded i ts th ree albums, amongst others. Duncan

now runs his own business Studiograff Photography, which now supplies photographic services including: weddings, portraiture, family and event related work including photo booths and high school prom dances.

“Photography is my first love these days, I love capturing people and events that hopefully the customer will treasure for generations.”



Eann: reasons to be cheerfulabout area prospectsCNSRP programme manager Eann Sinclair outlines the reasons to be upbeat about the future.Caithness and North Sutherland R e g e n e r a t i o n Pa r t n e r s h i p (CNSRP) partners work together to support initiatives to diversify the economy away from its current dependence on nuclear decommissioning.

We carry out enabling activities to ensure the right infrastructure is in place to allow our economy to prosper.

We have been work ing as partners within CNSRP to look at economic opportunities. We estimate what impacts these might have in our area.

In making these projections we've taken advice and information from a number of local and national sources, so we believe

our projections are not over-optimistic.

If even half of the job predictions come to light we would need more people than we currently have working in the area.

Some projects have commercial sensitivities and we are not able to l e t p e o p l e k n o w w h a t i s happening.

It is a balancing act to ensure people feel confident that there a r e m u l t i p l e e c o n o m i c opportunities for this area and not give false expectations, as some projects we have worked on in the background for a year or so have ultimately come to nothing.

We need to get the message

rolled out to everyone who has an interest in our community.

Simon Middlemas and I recently gave a presentation to trade union and safety representatives at Dounreay. We had quite a lively debate with some challenges and a lot of worthwhile input and questions.

We want to continue with this and start to offer presentations to other groups and organisations over the coming months.

We are looking for support from everyone who lives in this county. If you don't know about CNSRP and the work being done, come and ask us. If you want to see the presentation on job predictions, come and ask us.

If you want to challenge the numbers, challenge us. But at the end of the day, everyone should have an interest in our future.

If you think this doesn't affect you because your job at Dounreay will see you into retirement - you need to think about your children or grandchildren who may wish to remain in the area.

We need to encourage our future workforce that there is a future for them in Caithness and north Sutherland. There are lots of reasons why we should be upbeat for the future of our county.

ENERGY36%

TOURISM

8%BUSINESS

SERVICES10%

FOOD

& DRINK

11%

15%LOCAL

20%OTHER

1100FTE jobs

shown insectors

Between 2007 & 2015>200 companies

have createdWe have identified these projects as creating a number of jobs because of where they are located.

Wick harbour is close to potential offshore windfarms and the harbour trust is working hard to secure contracts to become the operations and maintenance base, which will bring major development around the harbour and jobs for the next 25 years or so.

Scrabster harbour's location is already bringing increased traffic through the port, allowing us to capitalise on this when it comes to future oil & gas investments as the UK industry recovers.

The commercial development of tidal energy globally is being led by the MeyGen project in the inner sound of the Pentland Firth, local businesses are already involved in the delivery contracts.

The Nuclear Archive is a massive investment by the NDA, and will provide up to 20 multi-skilled, long-term jobs. It is next to the airport which we hope means more traffic through the airport when the facility is up and running.

Looking further ahead, the feasibility of siting a satellite launch facility on the north coast of Sutherland is also being considered at the moment, with all the international opportunities that might open up.

• Skills

• Business and industrial land

• Roads

• Superfast broadband

• Community Sports Hub

• Wick JOG Airport

Key enabling activities:



Birds of prey flying highover Dounreay

Falcons and hawks are being used around the site to deter gulls from nesting this spring.

In previous years there has been an issue with aggressive gulls dur ing the nest ing per iod, resulting in health and safety concerns for on-site personnel.

NBC Bird Solutions is a national bird management consultancy that deal with deterring native bird species that come into conflict with commercial operations. The company own a large selection of

birds of prey and breed their own birds at their brand centre in Norfolk.

The birds of prey are used all over the UK at places as diverse as footbal l s tadiums, a i rports development sites and harbours.

The NBC technicians who fly the birds come from a variety of backgrounds.

Andy Higgins is an experienced falconer and mentors Jamie Sneddon a zoology graduate who has been trained by the company as a falconer and wildlife technician.

Andy, a life-long falconer said: “Having been brought up with birds of prey all my life I was fortunate enough to be able to turn this passion into a career in my early 20s”.

Gin, shown flying here, is a harris hawk. They are known for being intelligent, laid back and relatively easy to train to fly as a bird deterrent. Harris hawks are also one of the only hawks who hunt in packs in the wild.

There are four other birds of prey on site - Tyrie, a harris hawk; Mr Mojo, a peregrine falcon; Skye, a hybrid peregrine falcon; and Esther a ten month old hybrid gyrfalcon. Each bird is flown several times per day for anything

up to half an hour to deter the gulls.

“The falcons fly high in the sky to provide an aerial threat which all the gulls on site will be aware of,” continued Andy.

“The hawks are more of a stealth bird which deters the birds over a smaller area. We are flying this combination of birds to maximise their impact on the site.”

Doug McGeachin , Deputy Environment Manager, said: “These deterrent measures have successfully made the site a less attractive prospect for the birds that are seeking out nesting sites”.



Flight Lt Leslie flying highLeslie helps youngsters reach for the sky in his off-site roleLeslie Grant has risen through the ranks of the air cadets to become the commanding officer of 1285 Caithness squadron in Wick.

Leslie who works in the Waste Directorate said: “I joined as a cadet when I was 13 and left when I was 18. I returned as a civilian instructor when I was 20.

“Brian Munro who worked on the Dounreay site was commanding officer of the squadron at the time and he asked if I would like to come back to help out.

“I am 50 this year so you can work it out how long I have been involved.”

The squadron takes cadets away to training and sports events throughout the year and they attend organised activities at RAF Lossiemouth.

They can also attend a weeklong camp during the school summer holidays at an RAF station. They experience daily life on an active

military station and get the opportunity to fly in a training aircraft.

Leslie will be accompanying three cadets taking part in the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford, where they will assist in the setting up and dismantling of the two day air show.

This year is the 75th anniversary of the formation of the air cadets and to commemorate this in July there will be a baton relay from John O' Groats to Lands End with local cadets participating in the first stage of the relay.

Leslie is keen to encourage new recruits to join. Cadets can join now at 12, but have to be going into year two at high school. Adults interested in volunteering can come along to meet staff and have a chat to see what's required to become an instructor.

Further information is available on t h e a i r c a d e t w e b s i t e http://www.raf.mod.uk/aircadets.

Dalek on the loose at DounreayGuardforce Officer Robert Sutherland is certain that he has seen a Dalek on site.He last saw it lurking in Whatlings

Hanger about 20-odd years ago.

Some research by Heritage

Officer James Gunn and editor

Sue Thompson suggest that he

isn't making it up.

They found some grainy, but

recognisable, photos in the 1964

issue of Haggis, a forerunner of

Dounreay News.

The photos show a Dalek trying to

gain entrance to the site, and one

on patrol outside D1300.

The story goes that the Dalek was

constructed by some of the

apprent ices, fo l lowing the

success of Dr Who.

Robert has no idea where the

Dalek went to, but if you know

where it is now, please contact

Sue.



Dounreay cyclistsdo wheelie wellFour Dounreay employees donned their wheels and puffed their way along the round-the-clock mountain bike endurance challenge in Strathpeffer.The idyllic Ross-shire spa town h o s t e d t h e a n n u a l e v e n t "Strathpuffer" on a cold and damp January day, welcoming 700 teams of riders from all over the world. Riders compete singly, in pairs and in quads with some special group teams of ten.

The 'Puffer' is rated as one of the toughest mountain bike races on earth.

The event started at 10am on a Saturday, with cyclists competing to complete as many laps as possible, with the last lap of the six-mile course started by 10am on Sunday.

Most of the course was thawing after a hard frost, with the final descent deep with sticky mud and water.

Dounreay's hardy cyclists were

Allan Sutherland, Les Mackay, Phil Cartwright and Graeme Morgan.

Les and Phil were competing in a team with Sandy Christie and Gordie Robertson from Vulcan and Alan was competing as a pair with Richard Hunt from SSE.

Graeme was competing in a team with ex-Dounreay worker Simon C o p s e y a n d t w o o f h i s colleagues Gair Strachan and John Watson from Wood Group in Aberdeen. They managed 23 laps with Gair opting for the comfort of his sleeping bag rather than a final lap.

Phil said: “The weather was warmer than expected and the course conditions reflected both the recent rain and thaw.

“It became incredibly muddy, with

bike cleaning between laps essential.

“Our team completed 21 laps and I was pleased that Sandy didn't complete his lap in time for me to do the 22nd lap.

“It's a real test of both physical

and mental endurance, with Les admitting he was broken on his last lap.”

Les agreed, adding: “A brilliant weekend, very challenging but great fun. Bring on Puffer 2017.”

Apprent is runner-up in skills awardDounreay apprentice Brian Wade, was runner-up in the maintenance apprentice of the year award at the UK Nuclear Skills Awards, hosted by The National Skills Academy for Nuclear in Manchester earlier this year.

He is pictured at the 2015 apprentice prize giving ceremony.



Lifeboat fund buoyantthanks to fund raisersOne Saturday night in March the Pentland suite of the Weigh Inn rocked to the sound of the Barracuda Boogie Band and special guest musicians to raise money for the RNLI Thurso Lifeboat.The event was the pinnacle of the fund rais ing that began in February at the Meadow Lane Co-op in Thurso, when the staff o r g a n i s e d a s p o n s o r e d haircutting, home baking and raffle.

CNC community liaison officer and perennial RNLI fund raiser Pete Shewell takes up the story.

“We had over 120 people attend and the band soon had them up on the dance floor jiving away to many old favourite tunes”, he said.

“Pete Thompson won the first prize of two tickets to Caithness Rugby clubs dinner dance at the Norseman hotel.

“The Meadow Lane Co-op staff presented a cheque for £905.70p on the night and when we added this to the amount raised from ticket sales/donations and raffle

ticket sales the total amount raised was a fantastic £2125.00

“We must thank the staff and management of the Meadow L a n e C o - o p , s t a f f a n d management of Weigh Inn, the Barracuda Boogie Band and Dounreay Communities Fund for assisting to raise this amount; a l s o a b i g t h a n k s t o t h e businesses and friends who donated gifts for the raffle; and last but not least the people who attended the dance.

“Our lifeboat The Taylors is due to have a major refit of new engines l a t e r i n t h e y e a r. T h e s e replacements will enhance the capabilities and be more efficient than the present ones.

“The engines do not come cheap and the RNLI is funded purely on the goodwill and donations from m e m b e r s o f t h e p u b l i c supporting our fund raising

events.

“This year we are holding a number of craft fayres at the Royal British Legion assisted by local crafters, so watch out for the posters around Thurso.

“You can also keep up to date on

Apprents encourage job seekersDounreay's apprentices took part in the 'Jobs & How to get them' careers fair in Wick in February.The event, formerly the Careers Fair, is an opportunity to speak with potential new apprentices, expla in the apprent iceship programme to them and their parents, and offer advice on qualifications they require to gain entry to our apprenticeship programme.

Carol Robertson of DSRL's apprentice training, said: “It was a really busy day and we received g o o d f e e d b a c k o n h o w approachable and helpful our apprentices were.

“It gives them an opportunity to build on their communication skills and also allows those interested in the Dounreay apprenticeship to speak to current apprentices to get a real feel for what is involved.” Over 360 people attended the event making it by far the largest turnout in its four year history, with a record 42 exhibitors taking part. T h e e v e n t i s a n a n n u a l occurrence with next year's planned for early February 2017 in Thurso.

the Thurso Lifeboat Community Facebook page for information on RNLI events.

“The fundraisers are always looking for helpers who can spare two or three hours assisting either at the craft fayres or coffee mornings.”



Tool protects againstlathe injuriesTool identified will improve lathe sanding operations on siteHaving previously operated lathes, Stuart Webster knew the danger of being drawn into the machine. When Stuart, a member of the independent assessment team saw the lathe sanding tool he immediately recognised i ts potential for improving safety.

The sanding belt attaches to the lathe in the same manner as other lathe tools.

It removes the need for someone to hold the sanding paper against t h e r o t a t i n g w o r k p i e c e , reducing the danger of being drawn in to the machine and making the task safer.

He forwarded this information onto maintenance managers and the D2001 workshop mechanical team leaders.

Bruce MacKay, a workshop team leader arranged to buy the

sanding belt and it is now in use on site.

Maintenance supervisor Colin

Edwards said: “It makes this task much safer, as it is a mechanical aid it removes the danger of having your hands and fingers

close to the revolving chuck of the machine”.

Dounreay staff do it for Dylan“Dedicated to Dylan" fundraisers would like to thank all those who generously donated to the fund to help Dylan Davidson.Dylan, who is now nine years old, was seriously injured in a car accident just before Christmas and spent a long time in hospital in Edinburgh.

H e i s n o w b a c k a t h o m e recovering well and receiving treatment at Raigmore hospital in Inverness.

Special thanks to everyone for the generous donations, those who purchased raffle tickets and all staff on site who helped sell tickets for a fundraising event held in the Royal British Legion.

The final total raised was nearly £43,000.

Separately, the Francis Street Bowling Club held their annual charity triples open competition, with the money being raised going to Dylan's fund.

The club donated £300, while Arthur Gunn organised a raffle that raised another £350.

The winners of the competition also donated their £60 winnings, bringing the total to £710.

Club secretary Sharon Rosie is pictured handing the cheque to D y l a n ' s g r a n d f a t h e r T o m m y Davidson.



Survey results can helpimprove our paperEditor Sue Thompson reports on the results of the online survey.Thank you to everyone who took part in the online survey to have your say about the Dounreay News.

Nearly 300 people responded to the survey which was carried out in January.

The survey consisted of eleven questions, with an opportunity for people to comment on the design, layout and content of the newspaper.

We have now reviewed the results and plan to make some changes to the newspaper in line with your

suggestions.

You liked the decommissioning stories, which gives information on what is happening around the site.

Some of you were less keen on Where In the World? However, there are enough people who provide us with photos, so until we run out, we'll continue with it for the time being.

You also commented that the newspaper can be very D2003-focused. We tend to agree, and you can help us make it more

i n c l u s i v e b y s e n d i n g u s suggestions for stories. We will also try to get out and about more, looking for stories.

We will also address the issue of 'spin' in the stories, and will try to get more quotes f rom the workforce by reinstating Have Your Say in connection with some of the decommissioning stories. If we approach you for a quote, please help us by not running away.

Finally, to provide a more diverse safety message, we will be featuring a number of topics on a

• “Keeps you up to date on the current goings on onsite”

• “I like the way it has been updated following the previous survey”

• “It has a good mix of articles”

• “Since I am recently new to site it allows me to put faces to people”

• “People taking photos of it while on holiday. Seems a bit pointless”

• “Not enough information on day to day tasks...all work carried out to a high standard should be recognised”

• “Would like more honesty – there's always a PR type 'spin' on things”

• “Sometimes the articles are a little glorified”

LIKES DISLIKES

rota for page 19. So you will see stories about safety, OHD health campaigns, DIT issues, Lean stor ies, and environmental issues.



Environmental surveyresults positiveThe results from the 2016 environmental culture survey were compared with the results from 2015 and resulted in a clear positive rise across four themes:

• S e n i o r m a n a g e m e n t commitment

• Personal responsibility

• Communication

• Training

The results demonstrate the c o m m i t m e n t t h a t s e n i o r management display towards environmental protection.

Charity funds help local sportspeopleDounreay Communities Fund sponsored the annual Caithness Badminton Association invitation tournament held in March. The tournament participants are pictured.

Dounreay Employees Charity Fund gave the Caithness Ladies Football Club £500 towards running costs. DECF Treasurer, Sandra Owsnett is pictured presenting the cheque to the team (photo taken by Wolfburn Photography).

Senior managementcommitment

Personalresponsibility

Communication

Training

EADLINE ESULTSH R

Number of responses

It is clear that the mandatory env i ronmenta l t ra in ing fo r everyone on the site, and the i nc reased commun ica t i on regarding environmental matters is having a positive effect across the workforce.

The results were tempered however by a small reduction in the overall number of people completing the survey.

Dounreay Employees Charity Fund donated £500 towards travel costs of Thurso High School's sports teams enabling them to participate in competitions. Marie Mackay, DECF secretary is pictured presenting the cheque to the senior football team following their recent Scottish Cup match against Bel-Baxter from Fife (photo courtesy of Chris Gunn, Thurso High School).



Dounreay News is edited by: Sue Thompson, Dounreay Communications

Published by DSRL on behalf of the NDA

Design & Layout by: DSRL, Graphics / Communications, Dounreay

Please Recycle

this newspaper

when you've

finished reading it.DSRL©2016PR-NP2016 May A1.CDR (04/16)

SUE’S NEWS

Jean Gillespie sent in some photos of her daughter Sine, 14, who raised funds and had her hair cut to donate to the Little Princess Trust. The charity produces real hair wigs for children who have suffered hair loss.

Sine's hair was cut free of charge by Cara at Blow your Top. She raised £386 which covers the cost of making one wig.

DSRL IT Services– Tip of the Month

Calendar ClevernessThe calendar in Lotus Notes is invaluable, to help keep track of meetings, appointments and also to allow others to see when we are (and when we're not) available. Some tips for maintaining an effective calendar are below:

Check your working hoursBy default, Lotus Notes uses a standard working week/day i.e. Mon - Fri, 09:00 – 17:00. Make sure your calendar accurately reflects your working hours. This is especially important if you work u n u s u a l h o u r s . ( M o r e > Preferences > Scheduling).

L e t o t h e r s k n o w y o u r availabilityTo avoid getting double-booked, make sure that your schedule in format ion is avai lable to everyone – to allow free-time searches. (More > Preferences > Access and Delegation > Access to your Schedule). This should be set automatically, but some people do change it.

Everyone should be ableto see your availability

Maintain your privacy…Many departments now use a group calendar which pulls information from your calendar and makes it available to your colleagues. For this reason, make sure you mark any personal e n t r i e s e . g . m e d i c a l appointments, as private (tick the “Mark Private” box).

… but don't play hard to getSometimes we use “All Day Events” in our calendar to remind ourselves when colleagues are on leave, being on-call etc. When you create an “All Day Event”, it

a u t o m a t i c a l l y m a k e s y o u unavailable for the entire day. Remember to tick the “Mark A v a i l a b l e ” b o x f o r t h e s e reminders.

Tell the right people when you're awayThe 'Out of Office' feature is a great way of informing co-workers when you're not around. However, do you really want to tell strangers that you're on holiday, possibly advertising an empty house? Automatically replying to internet addresses can also let “spammers” know that your email address is a valid one and make it a target. For that reason it's recommended that you don't respond with an “Out of Office” to internet addresses.

Keep your calendar up to dateLast but definitely not least - make sure all your activities are entered in your calendar, including annual leave and appointments. If you don't then you may find yourself missing a meeting, not being kept up to date and, even worse, getting all the meeting actions!

What do you want to tellThe attached photograph shows some of the Ormlie Girls and Secretary Gladys Sinclai r presenting this year's charity cheque for £1000 to Agnes Mackay and Joan Allan of the Caithness Sight Impairment Group.

In the 16 years since the “Girls” was founded, donations have been made annually to local groups. The 'Girls' raise money during the year through raffles, quizzes, sponsored walks, car boot sales and selling recipe books.

One or two events are held in the Club in Brownhill Road each month, featuring an entertaining variety of talks and participative activities including food tasting, craft events, bingo, beetle drives, m a k e u p a n d c o o k e r y demonstrations and seasonal parties.

The Ormlie Club was founded by workers living in the Dounreay hostel, and has just celebrated its diamond anniversary. Both the Club and the Orml ie Gi r ls welcomes new members – visit their Facebook page for more information.

On June 18 Team: R WE WISE will

embark on a 72 ho le go l f

cha l lenge in 24 hours fo r

Macmillan Cancer Support. The

goal is to complete 18 holes on

each of the county's four golf

courses in a single day – 81 road

miles and 21,834 golfing yards.

The challenge begins at Lybster

Golf club for the first 18 of the day,

then on to Wick golf club where

the ha l f way mark w i l l be

achieved. Reay Golf club is third,

and the challenge comes to an

end at Thurso Golf club.

Thurso golfers David Dunbar,

Garry Calder, Nicky Doherty

and Terry Mackay make up the

team.

Says Nicky: “Everyone in the

team would like to thank you for

visiting our JustGiving page

(search R WE WISE and click on

Garry Calder) and thank you all

for whatever donation you can

manage.

“ Yo u r h e l p i n s u p p o r t o f

M a c m i l l a n i s v e r y m u c h

appreciated by us all.”

For people who fee l more

comfortable to donate in person,

donation sheets will be available

in The Comm, Top Joes, Thurso

golf Club and Castletown Bars or

by contacting any of the team

members.

You can also donate by texting -

BGDT 72 plus the amount you

wish to donate to 70070.

see page 13 for more pfr sticks in this issue · 4 dounreay news news round-up may 2016 pfr's...

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