Ground-breaking land contamination conceptual model paves the way to a cleaner and safer future at Sellafield

We’ve been selected to help deliver one of the largest land contamination conceptual model projects in the UK, helping Sellafield Ltd on its journey to creating a clean and safe environment for future generations.

We’re part of a consortium led by WSP, which has been awarded a contract by Sellafield Ltd, to conduct land quality characterisation work on one of the most complex nuclear sites in the world. The consortium also includes Mott MacDonald and Eden.

Danny Hope, regional director — north west at Hydrock, said:

Sellafield must demonstrate a robust and up-to-date understanding of the sub-surface and groundwater system at the 265-hectare site in Cumbria, including any key data gaps and uncertainties. This is to ensure that the site licence company (SLC) appropriately manages legacy contamination issues in the ground and groundwater at the site.

John Heneghan, Sellafield’s technical lead for the work, commented:

The site is strictly regulated by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Environment Agency (EA) and significant demands are placed upon the SLC to ensure the site is properly managed in accordance with environmental and nuclear legislation.

Our role is to lead the consortium’s review of the existing geological and hydrogeological understanding and determine the empirical ‘truth’ of the site as it is now.

The project will combine our geological, hydrological, contaminant fate and transport, radiological and data digitisation expertise to provide Sellafield with a geo-environmental data platform that provides the basis for future site characterisation and remediation for years to come.

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