Dounreay
The Royal Naval Nuclear Propulsion Test and Training Establishment is located at Downreay on the northwest coast of Scotland. The facility is officially called HMS Vulcan, because in the Royal Navy a shore Establishment is commissioned as one of Her Majesty's Ships, and officers and ratings assigned duty at the facility are recorded as being appointed to HMS Vulcan. The shore-based facility is where prototype nuclear reactors for use on submarines are tested. The original prototype of the Trident submarine reactor is at HMS Vulcan.
The Dounreay site was opened in 1955 for the development of fast reactors. Three reactors were built on the site, the Dounreay Fast Reactor, DFR ; Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) and the Dounreay Materials Test Reactor (DMTR) are now closed. The core programme of UKAEA work on the site comprises the decommissioning of the PFR and DFR and the reprocessing of the PFR fuel. It is expected that £500 million will be spent on this programme of work over the text ten years.
The UKAEA site is 135 acres and approximately 1,400 people work on the Dounreay site. With additional Dounreay land adjoining the site the total acreage is 1243. AEA Technology is the main tenant on the UKAEA site and operates commercial activities including decommissioning, health physics, descaling of North Sea oil production pipes and the Silver II waste handling process. The other tenants include Procord and BNFL. About £30 million per year goes into the local economy as wages and salaries. Dounreay represents 20% of Caithness GDP.
W.S. Atkins and Partners were recently appointed to provide additional management support at the site and will be part of a Dounreay integrated management team.
